Sonic X The Race Of Doom
by ckaira77
Summary: This is something that I decided to make in fourth grade (It's better now than it was then). I hope you enjoy the beginning of my main series. It gets better as you go along. Believe me! It starts off really soft and kind of mushy, but once you get to the later chapters, you start getting in deep. Everything that happens is connected in some way. (May not be a sequel actually).
1. Chapter 1

**Sonic X**

 **The Race of Doom**

 **Prologue**

"I can't believe that we missed one group of metarex! They're a lot tougher than the other ones and they were smart to not get involved in the beginning, but why get involved now?!" asked Sonic to himself as he sprinted down a hallway full of metarex in their base.

"Mission: Destroy Sonic the hedgehog!" they all yelled at once.

Sonic grinned and started spinning into a spin attack. He rocketed into the metarex. Their parts flew everywhere and Sonic continued down the hallway.

The leader's voice rang all throughout the ship telling the metarex to destroy Sonic before he destroyed them all.

"Tails, where's that leader hiding?!" asked Sonic to his best friend Tails the fox with two tails that allow him to fly if he uses them like a helicopter would use its propellers. Tails is a yellowish-orange and is the smartest person Sonic knows. He's also an expert with technology.

"Sonic! He's right-"Tails got cut off and Sonic franticly tried to get back in contact with Tails on his wrist communicator.

"He's right where?! Where?!" questioned Sonic in panic.

"Is it me you say that you're looking for hedgehog?!"

"Black Maple!" yelled Sonic in surprise. He jumped backward and nearly fell over onto his tail on the floor.

"I was expecting more than this! Let me to show you who I am and what I'm here for! I'm here to destroy you and I am one of the most powerful metarex in the entire universe hedgehog! Prepare to meet your doom and I hear that your doom is dying to meet you!" Black Maple said.

"Hey! That's one of my lines! I'll make you eat those words and this'll be a battle to die for!" Sonic shot back.

"Enough with the puns and Sonic references! We need to battle, not joke around!" Black Maple snapped.

"Okay, I'll drop the Sonic Heroes and Sonic Adventure 2 lines. Watch out here I come!" yelled Sonic as he began a spin attack.

"What a pathetic attack! If you keep on playing around, you'll be killed for sure! Take your best shot with that puny attack!" taunted the metarex leader.

"You're just so confident in your powers aren't you?! Okay, take this!" yelled Sonic spinning into the giant metarex. Black Maple stumbled backward and grunted.

"Not bad, but you'll need more than that spin attack to take me out you see! Now face the real and true ultimate power!" Black Maple replied.

"He's got a chaos emerald! Now how many times have I used that line?! The only line that I use more is 'Hey! Long time no see!'" Sonic said in his irritation.

A chaos emerald is a miracle gem that is packed with tons of power. Feelings control how the power is used. Ex: hate, caring, love, friendship, anger, etc… Those are feelings that can bring out its power. There are seven of them and when all seven are collected and are in the same place, a miracle is said to happen. They are all controlled by a giant gem however, which is called the master emerald.

"Be silent hedgehog! I want to savor every moment of this! The moment I destroy the fastest pest alive with this! A jewel containing the ultimate power!" yelled Black Maple holding up the gem stone in his giant robotic hand.

"You said no more Sonic references!" said Sonic.

"That's not a Sonic reverence! That's a Shadow reverence!" corrected Black Maple impatiently.

"Oh, right…," Sonic replied.

"Anyways, prepare to- Hey! Where'd it go?!" demanded Black Maple in panic.

"Wow! A stupid Dr. Eggman line! I wonder how many times he's said that!" laughed Sonic.

"I just thought that I should have a turn with it!"

"Knuckles!" Sonic cheered happily.

"Tails told me that you might need some help. I'd never leave you totally defenseless in a place like this," Knuckles replied happily.

Knuckles is a red echidna (If you don't know, look up an echidna) and is the muscle in the group. He wasn't the smartest or the calmest person in the world, but he made a valuable ally. Well, in Sonic's case I guess. He was also the guardian of the master emerald that controls the seven chaos emeralds. from going out of control. However, he allowed for Tails to use it as a power source for the ship that Tails made to allow them to go into outer space (which is where the rest of the Sonic gang is right now). P.S., Knuckles has anger issues sometimes.

"I'm not defenseless, but I am glad that you're here! Let's get out of here!" Sonic said.

"Ahem! Aren't you forgetting something! We're in the middle of a death battle! If you leave now, that means that you forfeit, and if you forfeit, then I'll always see you as a coward!" snapped Black Maple angrily.

"ME AND SONIC A COWARD?!" yelled Knuckles burning with outrage.

"You know what…, run Knuckles! Head for the ship the Blue Typhoon! We can only beat him with all the chaos emeralds!" yelled Sonic already running off.

"What?!" demanded Black Maple in astonishment.

"Hey, wait up!" yelled Knuckles quickly. He ran after Sonic because he knew that he couldn't possibly take out the metarex leader by himself. He may be a red echidna and be very strong, but not even he could destroy it alone.

"Attention metarex! Sonic is trying to escape! Find him and destroy him!" commanded Black Maple.

All the metarex gathered in front of Sonic and Knuckles, but were soon destroyed by the unstoppable duet and the two of them made a way out by destroying a part of the wall. They climbed through it and swiftly drifted over to the Blue Typhoon.

"Sonic you're back!" said Tails with relief.

"Indeed we are! I was only trying to get to know the enemy better and not destroy him just yet," Sonic replied.

"That's my Sonic!" Tails replied.

 **Within the base, Black Maple was steaming mad. He clutched his fist with anger.**

"I'll destroy that hedgehog someday! SOMEDAY!" screamed Black Maple.

 **A ways away in Eggman's ship, he also was working on something again. Rouge was with him while Eggman worked.**

"Based on this DNA sample, he should be exactly the same. He'll even get his memory back, but his personality may be a little different. He's going to be a little bit more open and snappy. That's alright with you isn't it?" asked Eggman.

Dr. Eggman is one of Sonic's arch rivals, but is also a master with machinery. Said to have an extremely high IQ, but he is actually dumber than a box of hammers at times. His only wish is to destroy Sonic and take over the universe. In many other Sonic games, he tries to do that by making a theme park based on himself. However, thanks to Sonic, he never succeeded. He is also the only human who lives in Sonic's dimension and has a HUGE orange mustache under a huge, big, pointy nose.

"He was always snappy! I don't care. Just bring him back!" Rouge replied.

Rouge is a white bat who used to work for the government (in the human world) and has a weakness for jewels. Is a treasure hunter like Knuckles and is all about the glamore. She's got black wings and extremely long eyelashes that are always trying to charm you to death and her eyelids are blue. Rouge wears tall white heart boots and a black bodysuit and is, not to mention, a thief.

"Please have patience my dear Rouge. I should be done in a second. I just need to give him some juice with this chaos emerald and we'll be all set!" Eggman answered.

"What about the rings?" asked Rouge.

"I made copies of the originals. Should function exactly like the other ones he had. Why do you care so much for Shadow anyway?!" demanded Eggman.

"He's more than just my partner! He's my friend!" Rouge replied.

"Explains why you always follow him around. There, I'm done," Eggman said happily.

If you think that I'm going to tell you everything about Shadow right here and now, forget it! You'll learn about him later!

Light flooded from the machine and electricity filled the room. A dark figure rose from the contraption. It stood up and looked at Eggman and Rouge.

"What happened? All that I remember was saving the universe, and then being transported here. What happened in between?" asked the dark hedgehog.

"Shadow, you blew up, stopped time in another world, and worried Rouge half to death. She's been nagging me to recreate you ever since that happened. I finally had to agree. That's all that's happened for now," Eggman replied.

Shadow stood in silence for a second. It took him a moment to remember all that had happened. The Blue Typhoon, Sonic, Rouge, Cosmo, the metarex, Molly, Maria… He jerked back into reality.

"Hold on, what about Molly?! What about Sonic?! Is the metarex gone?! Did Cosmo die?! What about Maria?!" demanded Shadow.

You'll learn about that later too.

"He's back…," Rouge sighed with relief.


	2. The REAL chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Friend or Foe?**

Out at Sonic's ship the Blue Typhoon, they were in a peaceful part of space at last and were bored out of their minds. Again…

"Tails, you said that there were metarex all over the place, but if they were, then why am I running laps around the ship just to entertain myself and not fighting the enemy?" asked Sonic. Due to his superspeed, he's impatient.

"Sorry, Sonic. We came here because there seems to be some sort of planet here and I was right! I suggest that we go down there to investigate, or at least to map it," said Tails.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Huh? Tails, what's going on up there?! Are you okay?" asked Amy running out to the bridge to see what Tails was doing. She had a bewildered look on her face.

"The controls suddenly aren't working! Engines two and three entering red zone! Hang on to something solid because I think we are going to crash!" yelled Tails to everyone.

"What a bad time for a good skydiving trip!" yelled Knuckles.

 **Crash!**

"Huh? Why is there a big spaceship in our yard? We are the only ones here, so why would anyone visit?" asked one person who lived there on the planet.

"Maybe they crashed! If they did, then we must help them! I know I would be devastated if I crashed my ship in an unknown world!" replied the other.

These two people were both girls. One was a purple hedgehog and the other was a bright pink fox with two tails. The purple hedgehog has the same hairstyle as Sonic and the same shoes as Sonic. The only difference from her and Sonic was her fur coloring and personality. The bright pink fox with two tails is exactly like Tails only again different fur coloring and different personality. They were the only ones who lived on the planet.

Sonic had decided to take a good look at the new world that they were brought to. He jumped out and zipped away leaving nothing but a cloud of dust behind him.

"Hey! Did you see that guy?! He's awesome and fast! Do you want to welcome him to our world while I go to take a little peek at the spacecraft?" asked the pink fox.

"Um… Sure! Why not? After all, we have nothing better to do. Just one question, do you think that they are friendly? If they aren't, then we are in deep trouble…" replied the purple hedgehog.

"Don't make a fuss over it! I'm sure that they aren't all that bad. The hedgehog didn't bring a weapon with him and start blowing things up when he left the ship. If he was a metarex, then he would have done just that!"

The purple hedgehog had to admit that she put up a pretty good argument for that one topic. She nodded her head and ran off to find the (who the pink fox thought was good) blue hedgehog.

Should I tell you what happened to the pink fox first, or what happened to the purple hedgehog first? Just because I can't really get an answer from the person reading this, I am going to choose the purple hedgehog. (Sorry if you wanted to read about the pink fox first).

After 15 minutes of walking in the direction Sonic went, she noticed that he was nowhere to be found. She decided to rest under a tree for a second or three. As the purple hedgehog rested, she thought about all of the details that Sonic had.

"He's a blue hedgehog with red and white shoes, he's really fast, has spiky hair, green eyes, black nose, and seemed to be very confident in himself when he left his ship… If only I knew his name!" the purple hedgehog said to herself with the thought of giving up, but something else happened to make her change her mind.

"Are you talking about me?"

"What? Who are you and where are you?! I do know how to fight!" the purple hedgehog yelled in alarm. When she sprang up to meet the person who had spoken to her, she saw that there was nobody there. She got confused.

"Whoa! Take a chill pill! I'm not going to hurt you unless if you work for the bad side! The name is Sonic the hedgehog, and in case if you were wondering, I'm up in the tree," replied Sonic jumping down from the tree. He was definitely the same hedgehog that left the ship. Sonic was blue, had red and white shoes, green eyes, spiky hair, black nose, and had that confident expression on his face.

"Oh! I'm sorry that I threatened to hurt you Sonic. It's just that I and my friend are the only ones who live here, so if someone comes then it's normally not at all very good. My name is Lily the hedgehog, and I welcome you to this planet," Lily said warmly.

"So, does anyone ever come to this planet? It must get kind of lonely without anyone but your friend," said Sonic as he looked around at the empty planet. There was short grass and the occasional tree, but not much.

"Well, the metarex do come every now and then, but-"

"Metarex! Are you two allies and are you trying to get rid of me and my friends?! If you are then you aren't going to get away with it that easily!" shouted Sonic and he started chasing Lily and wouldn't stop chasing her!

"It's just that I'm not with them! I'm not with them! Do you hear me!?" cried Lily as she ran.

"Liar!"

 **Meanwhile, with the pink fox…**

"Whoa! This ship is pretty big! They must have a lot of money or have the best space ship builder in the world!" exclaimed the pink fox as she made her way into the Blue Typhoon.

 **Inside of the ship, Tails the fox was fixing the security system.**

"Okay. I just have to put that there and this here and I'm done!" cheered Tails. Once he did that, the system started beeping like crazy!

"What is it now Tails?! Is there a fire?! Is there a bomb?! Is there a bunch of Mexican tacos about to raid the ship?!" asked Knuckles in alarm.

"No Knuckles. There are no fires, no bombs, and I'm positive that our ship isn't being raided by Mexican tacos. Why would you think of something like that anyway?" asked Tails to Knuckles.

"I don't know. I suppose that it just came to me, but it does sound really ridiculous now that I think of it. I feel really stupid now," Knuckles replied.

"Yeah, I agree that you sound totally stupid and I would recommend that you don't bring it up anymore," Tails said.

"The two-tailed fox is right. It does sound really ridiculous. I also don't think that tacos can raid at all red echidna!"

"Hey! What on, whatever planet this is, was that Tails?!" asked Knuckles in surprise. He looked around trying to find the person who had said it.

"Hey, I'm standing right here you know! The pink fox is the one who is talking to you! The name is Rabby. Nice to meet you! Don't worry, I'm not an alien. Actually, I must ponder your reason for being here!" said Rabby cheerfully. It was easy to tell that Rabby was well prepared for a fight and was also not in the mood to fight, so Tails didn't tell anyone to attack her.

"What are you doing here anyway? Are you spying on us for the metarex? If you are, then you will be stopped! We do know how to fight!" warned Tails challengingly.

"Oh, don't be silly two-tailed fox! I'm the good guy here! How can I get you to trust me if you won't stop being so hostile? I'll tell you everything I know if I have to!" yelled Rabby. Her voice was truthful and Tails could see that she was unarmed.

"Alright, we trust you. By the way, my name is Tails. Not two-tailed fox. You got that? I'm the captain of this ship known as the Blue Typhoon! Made it myself," bragged Tails. He was very proud when Rabby jumped up to him and started asking him questions about how he could have done it with no help.

"You didn't do it all yourself Tails. Remember when Sonic and Knuckles fought just so you could get this ship in the air, how we loaded all this stuff onto this ship, how Knuckles let you use the master emerald as a power source, and how we all brought you supplies just so that you could finish it?" grumbled Amy walking into the room. She had heard everything that they had said.

"Oh yeah… Sorry… Well, Rabby this is Amy Rose. Don't get her mad, or else she will hit you with her giant piko piko hammer. She has anger issues… She's also madly in love with Sonic, so now that you know more about her, you should know what to expect," said Tails.

"What did you say about my anger issues?!"

"Er…, Nothing!" Tails replied to Amy.

"There are other people here, so don't you dare think that the introductions are done yet!" added Amy.

"Nice to meet you and-"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"What was that?! Is our ship being raided again?! This could be a trap Tails. This fox is distracting us to get us to let our guard down, so she can attack us with her little friends!" growled Knuckles in anger.

"Lily! She must be in deep trouble! I have to help her!" screamed Rabby as she ran off to find her friend.

"Wait who is Lily?" asked Amy.

"A soldier in your army is it not?! We don't trust you or your friends! They will pay if you are betraying us!" yelled Knuckles.

"Let's give her a chance Knuckles! She may not be a part of a large dangerous army or the metarex. Look outside Knuckles. See? It's just Sonic casing that poor girl around outside. Wait a second! Sonic is chasing that poor girl outside! That must be Lily! We might be surrounded by an evil gang after all if Sonic is chasing someone! Be back in a moment Knuckles!" called Tails as he ran outside to speak with Sonic.

"This is worse than an army because if Sonic doesn't stop then he might get trapped by them! Then he will be their hostage! I've got to stop him!" yelled Knuckles running outside.

 **Meanwhile outside the ship,** Sonic was still chasing Lily. When Rabby saw this, she was furious. Her fur color started changing to red as her anger continued to well up inside of her! By the time her fur became the brightest and most vivid red ever seen, she was blasting after Sonic with amazing speed! She caught up with Sonic in ten seconds flat. Once Sonic saw her, he instantly forgot about Lily and directed his attention to getting away from Rabby in her mad form, but at that moment that seemed impossible.

"What do I do to stop this?! This isn't good! Sonic! Rabby! STOP!" screamed Tails.

"What?"

"I said stop!" Tails repeated.

"Oh!" replied Rabby.

Rabby returned to her normal color and quit chasing Sonic. Sonic also stopped running. They looked around confused. When Sonic saw Tails's tapping foot, he felt clearly embarrassed. Rabby finally figured out what all the fuss was about.

"Hey! You are that hedgehog from before! I didn't know it was you until I calmed down. Sorry about that, but why were you chasing Lily like she had done something wrong? She'd never do anything to offend anyone! Well, except for the metarex," replied Rabby with a nicer tone of voice than before. Her anger had vanished.

"Hold on! You two don't work for the metarex?" Sonic wondered out loud and was utterly confused at this point.

"Nope. We are not allies with them."

"In that case, I'm sorry for what I have done. Please forgive me," replied Sonic who finally understood.

"What's your name anyway? Should I just continue calling you blue hedgehog?" asked Rabby.

"Don't call me blue hedgehog, please. My real name is Sonic. Sonic the hedgehog. What about you?" asked Sonic to Rabby.

"The name's Rabby. Do you want us to become friends? I understand if you say no," Rabby said to Sonic.

"Why do you think that I wouldn't? Of course! We need all the friends we can get to stop the metarex. Do you want to- What's that in the sky?" asked Sonic.

"It's a metarex! Don't worry because I've got a plan! It's to fight this thing off! Okay Lily! Let's show them what we've got!" Rabby yelled before running into battle with Lily at her side.

Lily spun into the metarex to knock it over and Rabby noticed a crack in the back of it. She reached into the crack and pulled a wire out. The wire snapped and she with Lily ran away as fast as they could. The metarex blew up and the rest of it was nothing more than a pile of debris on the ground. Rabby and Lily gave each other high fives and returned to Sonic and the others. They were wonderstruck.

"How'd on Earth did you do that Rabby and Lily?! When we find one of those monsters we don't exactly beat it in two shots!" exclaimed Tails.

"No kidding!" Sonic said in agreement.

"Skill's the key. They're actually pushovers when they're alone. We've fought millions of metarex on this planet and none have beaten us yet," exclaimed Lily cheerfully.

"Would you guys like to join us? We could really use more people like you two along with us!" Tails said to them.

They looked at each other for a moment and discussed the offer between themselves. Lily wanted to stay because she had a bad feeling about going and didn't know of anyone who could protect the planet. Rabby on the other hand wanted to go because she knew that this would be an adventure that nobody would want to miss out on. The two of them turned back to Sonic and Tails.

"I think that we should-"

"Totally go with you! Who could refuse such an offer! " Rabby said to stop Lily from saying no. It worked at least.

"Fine then my dear friend Rabby! Just don't blame me if something goes horribly wrong!" replied Lily. Lily was mad at Rabby, but was also secretly agreeing with her that the adventure would be worth having. This was the only reason why she didn't argue.

"Well, the ship is now fixed, so let's go! Feel free to explore the ship while you're here!" Tails said as they all entered the Blue Typhoon.

"Hold on a second! Didn't Knuckles come out here with us?" asked Tails.

Right at that moment, Knuckles came running up and grabbed Sonic. Tails already knew what Knuckles was going to say just by looking at him.

"Sonic! You must get back onto the ship now! If you don't then you will become her hostage. We shouldn't trust her! She just randomly sneaks onto ships without warning!" screamed Knuckles as he pushed Sonic back into the ship.

"What are you talking about?! They're not going to keep me hostage! They saved us from that metarex that tried to steal their planet egg! These two are traveling with us now!" Sonic replied.

"Oh… Well, I feel sheepish. Rabby, Lily, please forgive me for all of those accusations…," Knuckles said.

"We forgive you!" Rabby and Lily said together.

"Thanks."

"I guess that we are leaving then!" replied Tails.

The rest of the gang hopped into the Blue Typhoon and were soon drifting through space unaware of what was going to happen next…


	3. Sonic X Race of Doom Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **A Large Love Problem**

Lily looked on into space. She was wondering about why she still had a bad feeling. When she gets bad feelings, bad things happen. She just wanted to know what it was going to be.

 **Meanwhile,** the metarex were having a group meeting. They wanted to know how to deal with Sonic and their new crew members.

"I suggest that we attack their ship!" one of them said.

"We've tried that plan twenty times and every time we failed! We need a fresh new plan! It has to be something that we haven't tried before. Something that will work, but what?!" another one said.

"I think that I can figure out a plan, Black Maple. We have been successful in rounding up an ally that can do many things said to be impossible. Listen to us and victory will fall into our hands," said a mysterious robot thing that wasn't a metarex, but not completely a robot. The metarex had never seen anything so much like them. They started chanting for their leader Black Maple to listen to the robot thing.

"…We will trust you for now, but if anything goes wrong, I'll stop working with you. Plus, you must want something in return. Am I correct?" asked Black Maple.

"Why yes. All that you need to do is join our army and do as we say. If you disagree, you will just have to live the rest of your unimportant lives as losers. What do you say to that?" asked the robot thing.

The rest of the metarex began to growl at the robot for calling them unimportant and losers. They wanted Black Maple to agree just to show the unexpected visitor how strong they were. Black Maple seemed shaken up by the insults as well.

"Fine! We'll join your army! Just to tell you, we are not unimportant and we are not losers! You will see. Just two questions. Who are you and do you have a plan? Can you answer me those questions?!" snapped Black Maple.

"You don't need to know my name, but all of us metaltrons do have a plan thanks to our leader. She has a mission for one of your metarex. It has to be very quiet, cunning, sneaky, and it can easily act invisible for this mission. Have any that can be like that?" asked the metaltron.

"Metaltrons? She? Who's she and what is the mission?" asked Black Maple.

"The mission is only for the metarex to choose. Only that metarex will meet our leader so soon. Now give me the one up for the job!" demanded the metaltron impatiently.

Black Maple chose the metarex that would be perfect for the challenge and turned back to the metaltron.

"What about us? What do we do?" asked Black Maple.

"Nothing for now," replied the metaltron as it left the presence of Black Maple with the selected metarex.

 **Back on Sonic's ship** , Tails was looking over the ship and felt as if he needed a rest. He was just about to go to his soft bed when he saw Rabby. Tails felt perfectly normal until he walked past her. Right as he did that, he felt the sudden urge to flip around and hug Rabby. He suddenly discovered that he wasn't tired anymore and turned around to see that Rabby did the exact same thing he did. They instantly ran up and started hugging each other! They probably stood that way for hours!

 **A little later,** Sonic was doing his normal laps around the ship when he ran past Lily. With Amy present, he told Lily how much he liked her, but Lily didn't have the same response that Rabby did with Tails. She was confused. One day Sonic chases her because he thinks she's a metarex spy, then the next he wants to go out on a date with her. She knew that something was up and she had to figure out what. She also had to do it before Amy blew up with madness.

For Amy, one look at Sonic and Lily and she left. She could see it in his eyes that he had something for Lily. Amy just hoped that Sonic would snap out of it and see that she is the one he needs to pay attention to.

"Sonic! Sonic! Sonic! You won't believe what has just happened! She's back! I tell you she's back!" Tails shouted joyfully as he ran up to him.

"Who is back?" asked Sonic drawing his attention to Tails.

"Cosmo! She's back! She's amazing, but not as much as Rabby, but she's back!" Tails explained.

"Wait! Did you say not as amazing as Rabby? You like Rabby?! Is there anyone else new here?" asked Lily now sure that there was something wrong. Sonic likes her, Tails likes Rabby, and she's fairly certain now that Rabby likes Tails. There was something really wrong going on.

"Yes, but how did Cosmo come back? Wasn't she… a little… dead?" asked Sonic.

"Remember the seed that you gave me? Well, I planted it and then when it was fully grown it turned out to be Cosmo! Isn't that awesome?!" asked Tails with great excitement.

"I'd like to see them! I've never met them and I think that they will be very nice. Does Rabby know? I can go retrieve her if you need me to," said Lily.

"You don't have to because she's already met them. She became friends with them very fast and couldn't have been nicer," Tails replied.

"That's Rabby for you. I'll get everyone together and have you take us to them. I already know everyone on the ship, so I think that I can handle myself," said Lily before leaving Tails and Sonic.

After meeting Cosmo, Lily decided to attempt to figure out what was going on. She also noticed Sonic writing something on a piece of paper. A love letter was her guess, but what happened next confirmed her guess. Amy walked into the room and glanced over at what Sonic was writing. She immediately freaked out and got out her giant hammer! She was aimed right at Sonic's head!

"Maybe this will teach you a lesson!" yelled Amy as she swung the hammer. Sonic dodged quickly.

Amy was so wound up that she was swinging her hammer everywhere just to get Sonic, but she was unaware of all the racket she was making. She was so loud that Dr. Eggman could hear her!

"What is that eternal noise?! I can't take all of these bangs, crashes, and whaps! It doesn't stop! I can't think up brilliantly evil plans with all this noise! Shadow, go and stop it please!" cried Eggman.

Shadow rolled his eyes, but then nodded and ran away. He mega-jumped to the Blue Typhoon and zipped inside. A giant mess met his eyes, but the other thing he saw made the mess look unimportant. He saw an enraged Amy and could almost literally see the burning fire of rage around her!

"You'll never leave me again Sonic the hedgehog!" Amy yelled before swinging about twenty hammers in his direction. Sonic was so bewildered that he didn't move!

Shadow then decided that he would help even though he usually didn't care much for helping out Sonic. Shadow managed to keep Sonic from getting hit, but it was really difficult because of the twenty hammers and only one of him. He did it somehow. Shadow will never cease to amaze…

Amy stopped at the sight of Shadow coming out of nowhere and looked around. Everything was devastated. Furniture broken, hammers lying around on the ground all over the place, and Sonic exhausted from all the shock. Amy felt very embarrassed and scared about it.

"What do you have to say for yourself!?" asked Shadow turning to Amy. He wasn't exactly cheerful about what had happened.

"I-I d-didn't know that I-I'd do so much damage!" was Amy's reply. She couldn't explain how she got so mad Sonic. It just simply happened.

"Well, you did and almost killed both me and Sonic!" Shadow shot back.

"It's my fault. I just got a sudden urge to like Lily and Amy noticed. I wasn't in love with her when I first met her, or this morning. I think that there's something really wrong going on around here.

"You can figure that out yourselves. I'm heading back to Eggman's ship before something else weird happens. All I want to see is you later," Shadow said as he turned away from them.

"Wait! Are you telling us that Eggman was following us? Has he been spying on us?! Another thing, why are you here?! How'd you know?" asked Amy.

"You don't need to know!" snapped Shadow

"Please tell us Shadow! We really want to know! It would mean a lot to us!" pleaded Amy.

"… Hmph! Pathetic! You are all begging for me to tell you classified information! You are both fools to persist!" Shadow said.

"I was just curious. You want to know too right Sonic?" asked Amy as she glanced over at Sonic.

"I guess, but I also don't want to get clobbered by Shadow! Knowing him he'd probably like beating me up!" Sonic replied.

"Correction, I'd love to kill you, Sonic the hedgehog," Shadow said.

"Hm… Good point Sonic… Could you at least tell us how you were able to return? When we last saw you blew up!" said Amy.

"… Eggman is following you and he also revived me. Now that you know, I'll leave. I don't exactly have all day!" he snapped.

"You snap more than a crab Shadow! Why are you so angry all the time?!" Amy asked.

"I don't find acting like myself wrong. It was the personality of when she was alive and when she was dead… I am who I am…" Shadow muttered darkly.

"Um… Could you tell us what you are talking about?" asked Amy.

"You'll never get it! You'd better not get in my way in leaving or in anything I do or else you will suffer the consequences!" Shadow retorted bitterly before turning his back on them and storming away.

"Wow… I never expected for that to happen… He seemed so… upset about something… Hold on! The whole reason that Shadow helped you to save the world was because Chris managed to get through to him! They spoke about a girl named Maria Robotnik," Amy said quietly.

"Maria Robotnik was who Shadow was talking about?! I always knew that Shadow was created to avenge Maria's death, but I never knew that Shadow knew about her! I always assumed that it was all just a coincidence…, but now it all makes more sense… If I were you, I'd not say anything more about this conversation. If we brought this up again, Shadow wouldn't be happy," Sonic replied.

Shadow was gone and now Sonic and Amy were the only ones in the room. Sonic stared at Amy and she stared back at him. Then they glanced around the room to see the destroyed furniture and hammers were lying everywhere. The walls needed to be painted and part of the floor was torn up. The roof had holes in it and they could see the room above them! The floor needed swept and dusted and the windows were cracked. This would take Amy about a week to clean. She didn't know how she'd do it without her usual cheerfulness to keep her going.

"Well, I guess that I'll get started on this disaster…," Amy said glumly and sadly. Sonic felt sympathy for her.

"Are you going to do this all by yourself? If you do that then it'll take days," said Sonic.

"Yep"

"You must want some help," Sonic told Amy.

"Nope"

"I don't care about what you think on that topic. I'm going to find a few people to help you out. I don't want you to work yourself to death and who wants that? I can't think of anyone who would want that except for you that is," Sonic said before running off. Amy couldn't argue with Sonic because he was too fast and he'd run away before she could.

Sonic ran around the Blue Typhoon trying to find someone to help Amy, but he couldn't find anyone. He searched the bridge, the main deck, the hallways, the kitchen, the outside of the ship, inside the sonic power cannon, and even in the bathrooms, but he didn't find anyone! Not a single soul. Not even Eggman. Sonic raced back to the room Amy was at, but before he got there, he heard a noise that sounded like inhaling! It wasn't Amy he knew, but someone else, but who?


	4. Sonic X Race of Doom Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **The Metarex Capture**

"S-Sonic?" the voice asked quietly. Sonic recognized that voice! It was Cosmo for sure! Sonic found her under a pile of rubble.

"What happened?" Sonic asked. He wanted to get to the bottom of the case and fast.

"A metarex capture… I think that they've discovered how to do magic…, but the magic only affects someone who isn't a plant… They used a love potion on you, Rabby, Tails, and Lily, but Lily wasn't affected… They wanted you and Amy to fight with each other so that you wouldn't catch them kidnapping our friends… I hid, but then something must have fallen on my head because I don't remember anything else…," Cosmo finished.

Sonic was speechless. His friends were captured by more metarex! He was under the effects of a love potion! Sonic was confused.

"Why did they want Tails to fall in love with Rabby? How did they use that love potion if I didn't drink anything at all today? Now that I think about it, I'm parched!" Sonic said.

"They were only testing the love potion on Tails just to be sure that it works. They don't trust the person who gave it to them I guess… The potion isn't liquid by the way. It's a substance that you can breathe in and once you've inhaled it then you're under the effects of it," Cosmo replied.

"Now things are making more sense. Come on! We have to get them out of the clutches of the metarex!" Sonic said with great confidence.

"Do you know where they are, or how to fly the Blue Typhoon?" asked Cosmo.

"No, but I'm sure that Tails must have made some instructions for this thing. Once I get this thing working, we can go and take a look at space that never ends and keep our eyes out for the base!" Sonic replied.

"Let's hope that luck helps us because I'm not sure that the odds of there being a manual. I don't think that Tails made a manual for the Blue Typhoon," Cosmo told Sonic.

"Cosmo look! I found the manual for the Blue Typhoon!" yelled Sonic from another room.

"Never mind what I said. We're going to find them if that keeps happening, so maybe I should keep talking like that. I'm going to help Amy," Cosmo said cheerfully before walking away.

 **Meanwhile with the metarex,** they were all waiting around in their base. Nothing interesting was happening and Black Maple was beginning to think that he had made the wrong choice in trusting the metaltron. If that was true, then they just lost a valuable metarex in their army. Suddenly there was a loud crash! The metarex that Black Maple chose returned with a large cage on its back containing all of Sonic's friends! They were all knocked out.

"My mission is accomplished. Black Maple, you will have to watch these prisoners very closely because they will be required in a plan in the future. Now you know that the metaltrons keep their promises, we must be sure that we keep ours. If we don't, we'll suffer dangerous consequences. That is the message that I have brought you from the leader of the metaltrons Black Maple," said the metarex once it had put the cage down.

"Like what? Will they just kick us out?" asked Black Maple.

"No. They will destroy us all and if not us all, then just you Black Maple. They don't exactly trust us yet, but they have agreed to continue working with us since we've done so good so far. This is why you mustn't screw this up," said the metarex.

Black Maple stood silently thinking to himself for a moment before turning back to face the rest of the metarex. They stared back at him as if they all expected to be assigned a job to guard the new prisoners.

"You two!" yelled Black Maple pointing at two of the metarex, "You will guard the room they are in!"

"Yes sir!" they replied before quickly running away with the cage in their arms. Suddenly they turned around in shock.

"What is it?!" snapped Black Maple.

"Look in the cage and see. There appears to be an extra person in it that we've never seen before," replied the metarex.

"That is one of the prisoners that the leader told us to keep an extra sharp eye on. The powers that dwell deep within her are stronger than you realize. Don't take your eyes off of her unless if you want to be dead," replied the metarex that was sent on the mission.

She had bright pink wings, brown eyes, brown short hair, and wore blue jeans with a pink T-shirt matching her wings. She also looked a lot like a human besides the fact that she had wings. The thing that got Black Maple was that she appeared very young, in her teens probably.

"What could a young girl do to offend the metaltrons? She's about fourteen from the look of things!" yelled Black Maple.

"She is older than she appears. In reality, she's twenty-three. Her race could use magic, so she's using magic to make herself appear young. That is all I know about her and her race," replied the metarex.

Black Maple stood silently for a moment and then said that he wanted to make the robot who went on the mission his second in command. He also decided to actually give him a name. The name he obtained was Blue Sycamore. Blue Sycamore didn't know what to say. All that he did was nod and walk to the other room.

The metarex that were given the job to carry the prisoners to the dungeon did as they were told before taking their stations in front of the jail cell. They weren't about to let anything in or out.

 **Back with Sonic,** Sonic was reading through the manual, but it didn't make any sense to him whatsoever. He poured through it and then jumped into the pilot's seat. Sonic then began pressing many buttons randomly. Somehow, Sonic started up the ship and was able to turn it around as if he knew where to go, but he didn't. Cosmo walked into the room with Amy right behind her.

"We cleaned up and fixed the room somehow. I say somehow because it's amazing that we were able to clean it up so fast! Sonic, do you actually know how to fly the Blue Typhoon?" asked Amy.

"No."

"Well, then I'm sure that we'll find them! When Sonic doesn't know how to do something then he does it with ease… How do you do that anyway? Usually that's the other way around!" Amy said.

"Don't ask me! The luck balance has changed in my favor, therefore, giving me good luck! This makes me wonder about who's got the bad luck? I hope that it's Eggman! He deserves it!" replied Sonic.

"Um… the luck balance? What do you mean by that?" asked Amy

"Never mind what I'm talking about."

"Hey, look at that! It looks like the metarex fortress! I'd bet that our friends are there! Let's go Sonic! We need to get there as fast as possible," demanded Amy.

Cosmo nodded in agreement, but thought that it was a little risky to just barge right into the metarex base without a plan. She knew how much Sonic likes to do that, but he's never gotten caught before. She was willing to do as he said, but didn't have any idea about what those commands would be. This sort of thing concerned her. Although, she would do whatever Sonic said even if it was the craziest thing ever thought of.

"What are we standing around for?! Let's go and save our friends!" yelled Sonic.

 **At Eggman's ship, Eggman was thinking to himself, but it didn't take long for him to figure something out.**

"Well, it appears that Sonic and his friends are moving to another part of space. We're going to secretly follow them," Eggman said with a laugh, "They won't suspect a thing."

"They know," Shadow said.

"What are you talking about? How do you know if they know?" asked Eggman.

"I told them," he replied.

"You told them?! Shadow, you are such a traitor!" snapped Eggman.

"Who cares?" he asked.

"They know that we are following them now and also that we may strike soon! I'm uncertain if I can trust you Shadow! Well, I don't think I was ever able to trust you…," replied Eggman.

"You can't trust me. I work for myself. I don't rely on people like you; one of those humans; the race that took Maria away. I may have saved them more than once, but… I'll never trust them again. Very few I really have grown to like and respect…," Shadow said.

"Don't tell me that you're thinking of Molly again! She's probably dead!" Eggman exclaimed.

"Don't remind me! In the Japanese series of Sonic X, she blew up thanks to those stupid metarex!" snapped Shadow.

Eggman rolled his eyes. For Shadow, it was always the same thing; Maria and Molly.

"I had business being here. I only decided that since you revived me I'd pay you back and now that I've done that I don't have to hang around!" Shadow called before jumping from the ship and into the never ending world of space.

"Well, if there's one thing that Shadow is good at, it's running off without a real reason. Then he shows up again and then he leaves without even saying hello. It's like he has this cycle!" Rouge said to Eggman.

"No kidding there…," Eggman said as he watched Rouge follow Shadow.

If there was anything that he knew about Shadow, it was his greatest weakness. That weakness is his past. The one major thing from his past that would really put him off guard is Maria.

simply shrugged and got back to his work once again. His project was big. Bigger than most of his others. He was going to use Shadow in ways unimaginable. All he had to do was use the negative energy in the chaos emeralds to make Shadow into a super weapon once again...


	5. Sonic X Race of Doom Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **A Metarex Rescue**

Crash!

"Hey guys! We're actually here! Don't tell Tails that it was me who crashed his ship!" Sonic said.

"He's probably going to find out Sonic, but where will we go once we've rescued our friends?" asked Amy.

"You know that I love to think on my feet!" Sonic yelled as he ran off.

"Hey! Wait for us! Don't leave us alone in this metarex base!" cried Amy to Sonic, but Sonic didn't hear her. He was too busy trying to find his friends before it was too late.

Suddenly the alarms started going off! It was going to be more difficult to find his friends than he thought…

 **The metarex guarding the prisoners ran away from their posts to investigate why the alarms were going off. The prison cell was left unguarded.**

"What happened?" asked Tails when he regained consciousness. He looked around and instantly noticed that he wasn't on the Blue Typhoon. Tails finally figured out that he got kidnapped by the metarex and sprang to his feet in alarm. He woke everyone else up.

"Everyone! You must wake up! We've been kidnapped by metarex! This is no time for a nap! Wait! Who's that?" asked Tails looking at the girl with the pink wings. It wasn't anyone that he knew of.

"Tails why did you wake me up? I was having such a good dream…," said Rabby who was no longer under the effects of the love potion.

"Tails, waking me up is a huge mistake, so prepare to get pummeled!" yelled Knuckles when he woke up from his slumber.

"Seriously Knuckles?" asked Tails.

"What? I was trying to sound tough!"

"Never mind…," Tails replied.

"What happened? What's with the unfamiliar scenery? Did I get captured?" asked the girl with the pink wings.

"We got captured by the metarex," explained Tails as he walked over to her.

"The metarex? I've only heard of the metaltrons… Where are we now?!" asked the girl as she jumped up from the ground.

"In a metarex base…," Cream the rabbit replied in her high tiny voice. Cream is a young heroine traveling with Sonic and his friends. Her mother lives far away from where Cream was right then. Cream's mother, Vanilla, was back on Sonic's home planet, but that didn't stop Cream from being important to the gang.

"Chao!" replied Cream's best friend Cheese the chao. He would follow her everywhere and Cheese is quite powerful despite his cute looks.

"Are these metarex like these metaltrons that I am fighting against? If they are, then we must stop them as soon as possible! Another thing, who are all of you?" asked the girl with wings.

"I'm Tails and these are Lily, Knuckles, Cream, Cheese, Rabby, and … Wait! Where'd Sonic, Amy, and Cosmo go?! I hope that their all right… What about you?" asked Tails to the girl.

"Give me a second," she said. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes as if trying to focus on something. Then after a few short seconds, she opened her eyes again.

"My name is Kaira," Kaira finally replied. Her gaze was a lot less concerned now.

"Kiarra? Kirra? Cara? Kara? Karra? Carra? Kiara? Kiiarra? Kaairra? Um… Am I saying it right?" asked Knuckles with a confused look on his face.

Kaira rolled her eyes. She got that a lot and it would always annoy her. Only this time she got it nine times.

"My name isn't this complicated, or at least shouldn't be…," she said to herself.

"Sorry, but I'm not that good with names Karran," Knuckles said looking at the ground.

"It's Kaira! K-A-I-R-A! K + AIR + A= KAIRA!" snapped Kaira angrily at Knuckles.

"I've been offending a lot of people lately…," said Knuckles to Tails sadly.

"Maybe it's because you haven't been quite yourself lately. You've been really jumpy making you really dumb sometimes. Please try to do better!" shouted Tails angrily.

"Okay! Okay! Alright! Alright! I'll shape up!" cried Knuckles putting his hands up in the air.

"This really isn't the right place or the right time to argue. I'll explain everything later, but now we must escape!" Kaira said as she took a look at the lock on the door.

"Hey look! Someone's coming toward us, but it doesn't look like it's a metarex. It looks like a two-tailed fox!" exclaimed Cream.

"Another mutated fox? How many two-tailed foxes are there in the universe?!" asked Rabby.

The fox ran up to them and he was gasping harder than ever from running. He was green and seemed younger than Tails and Rabby.

"Is there any metarex around?" asked the fox. He glanced around cautiously, but gave nothing away about his emotions.

"There's no metarex, but they will return if we make too much noise. Do you think that you could help us out? We need help getting out of this prison cell!" cried Tails.

"That's simple; I just need to take a little look at this lock… This is an easy lock! All I have to do is use my tails as a key! That's one of my special abilities. I can unlock almost any door with my tails, but maybe I should just open the door now instead of wasting time with my rambling," said the fox. He stuck one of his tails into the lock and then the lock clicked. The fox unlocked it!

"Wow, that's impressive! I've never seen anything like it! Well, maybe from Sonic's brother, but other than that nothing!" announced Knuckles in amazement.

"It's amazing! Sonic's brother uses whatever he can find, but not his tail!" said Tails.

"The name is Apple (Why do most of the Sonic characters have names like that rather than normal names?!). I got kidnapped by the metarex along with my family. I'm trying to rescue them, but obviously I'm running into problems constantly… I am trying to save my mother especially," Apple said boldly.

"How old are you anyway? 10? 11? 9?" asked Knuckles.

"3 years old. Yeah, I know I act older than I am. In reality, I think that I'm acting a lot like my brother Orange the fox at the moment. He's about 15 I'd say," said Apple.

"Well let's go! We've got to find Sonic, Amy, and Cosmo! At least before the metarex do!" Tails said.

The gang agreed and ran off to find Sonic who was now in a bit of a pickle along with Amy and Cosmo. They were surrounded by metarex and they were trying to fight them off the best that they could, but the metarex were just too powerful. The metarex began closing in on Sonic, Amy, and Cosmo! Suddenly out of nowhere, Lily spun into a metarex and kicked down another. Kaira jumped above the metarex and did a certain motion with her hands that caused all of the metarex to get this big electrical charge which blew them all up! Their parts flew everywhere.

"Well, I think I overdid it…," Kaira said as she looked around at all of the destruction, but Sonic and his friends were still in one piece thankfully.

"How did you do that? It was cool! It almost looked like Shadow's chaos spear and chaos blast together, but better!" exclaimed Sonic with astonishment.

"It was my electrical blast. It's nothing compared to my supersonic tornado attack! It basically whips up a large tornado that quickly rips everything up out of the ground and on the ground while at the same time letting out this deafening noise to make my opponents lose their hearing. It's great when I'm by myself, but with all of you guys around, I was afraid that I would do a little too much damage…," Kaira said.

"That- is- totally- cool! I wish that I could do that! My name is Sonic the hedgehog. What about you?" he asked.

"Kaira," she replied.

"Kiarra? Kira? Kara?" asked Sonic.

Kaira rolled her eyes. That was about the thirteenth time someone had said her name wrong that day. Not many people get it right on the first time, so she'd spell it out time after time to everyone.

"Listen up blue hedgehog named Sonic! My name is Kaira! K- A- I- R- A. You got that?!" she snapped.

"K- AIR- A… Okay! I get it now! It's Kaira, but what you are is what's bugging me more. You look human, but not all human. You're more humanoid!" said Sonic.

"The question of what am I comes up again… I'll explain what I am when we get back to the Blue Typhoon," Kaira replied.

"How'd you know about the Blue Typhoon? I've never told you about it…," Tails said with a puzzled expression upon his face.

"My power is greater than what you think and I have to be this smart in order to actually have a chance up against all of these evil metarex, metaltrons, and… um… continued," she finished.

"Well, about the Blue Typhoon I sort of crashed it… Sorry about that Tails…," Sonic said.

"Well, since I am your friend, I guess that I'll have to forgive you, but how are we going to leave now?! There's no way off of this base!" exclaimed Tails.

"I suppose that I could use a spell to fix your ship and then we can leave this horrible base," Kaira thought aloud.

"Great! Wait! Did you just say spell? You're going to use a spell?" questioned Sonic curiously.

"So what if I did say that I would use a spell? Why should you care?" she asked.

"It's just that Cosmo said that everyone got captured by the metarex using a spell, but I always thought that magic didn't exist… Then you said that you'd use a spell. Do you suppose that the metarex stole your power or-," Sonic said as he thought back to the time when Cosmo used the word spell.

"-there's another one of me… I suppose that would make sense, but less wondering more thinking! Less thinking more doing! Let's just escape before metarex get to us! Sonic, I thought that you were all about speed, but I guess I was wrong," Kaira said as she hastily raced off.

"Hey! I do like going fast! Just you wait and see! Race you to the Blue Typhoon! I have the advantage due to me having the knowledge of where it landed! We'll see who's slow," Sonic yelled as he raced after her.

The two of them raced, but Sonic just couldn't seem to get ahead of the speedy pink- winged mystery. She also knew exactly how to get to the ship. To Sonic it didn't make any sense! This was a more intense race than the one he had with Metal Sonic! Zipping around and screeching to a halt, Kaira glanced over her shoulder to see Sonic arriving in second place and panting hard. Ten seconds later, Sonic's friends finally caught up to them.

"I win!"

"How did you do that? You were moving faster than the speed of sound! I thought that only I could do that!" panted Sonic.

"I was only going easy on you! The race I come from can go way faster than that! I would be ashamed of myself if I ran that slow on my home planet! I can go faster than the speed of light and I don't have time to always go this slow. Speaking of which, I had better get this done," Kaira explained.

She took the parts on the ground from the Blue Typhoon and zapped them with a beam of light. Instantly, the parts went back to their original position on the ship. Then she quickly managed to repair all of the parts that were damaged. It was all over in a flash. Tails was dumbfounded.

"H-how does she do that!?" Tails wondered out loud in an awed, wonderstruck tone.

"I'll explain everything, but now we must simply leave before more metarex show up. Let's go already!" Kaira retorted.

"We're coming! No need to snap at us like that!" shouted Sonic as he scurried back onto the Blue Typhoon with the rest of his friends. As soon as he did, the newly repaired ship's engine started and they blasted off.

Kaira wondered if she would be revealing too much by telling Sonic and his friends about her, but she didn't exactly have a choice. The life of a Drayan is a dangerous one. Even if you are a Drayan with the power of the universe in your hands.


	6. Sonic X Race of Doom Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Secret of the Legend**

"That was amazing how you were able to fix the Blue Typhoon in two little seconds! I've never seen anything quite like it ever! Now that we're actually in the air, could you explain to us how you did that, what you are, and also where you came from?" Sonic asked. He didn't want to be delayed on finding out.

Kaira looked around and then took a breath. She was going to need it. This told Sonic and his friends that it was a long story…

"I am one of the last of my kind, a great and powerful people who were wiped out by these evil metaltrons many years ago. They were known as the Drayans and they were really powerful. The Drayans hatch from eggs, so I was still within my eggshell. The metaltrons were our rivals, but yet also enemies. They destroy anything that they fear is more powerful than them. It was a totally normal day, but then they just attacked out of nowhere and the defenders couldn't defend!" cried Kaira at the memory.

"Defenders?" asked Knuckles giving Kaira a sideways glance.

"Oh, that's right. I didn't tell you that part yet… Drayans come in three forms. You see, they're the defenders, the attackers, and the spellcasters. The spellcasters create and do magic. If they make good magic, they'll sell it for the public to use. Drayans were also the greatest people ever when it came to trading goods which made us totally rich! Attackers are the masters of the battlefield. They are the only ones allowed to inflict damage with their own fists. Spellcasters can fight, but only with magic. The defenders are very peaceful and can only defend, so they are sort of at a disadvantage. They can't hurt anyone, but this isn't a problem because they all don't like to fight. With the unstoppable combination of spellcasters, attackers, and defenders we were the most powerful race in the world!" Kaira announced proudly.

"So, how do you know if you are a spellcaster, attacker, or defender? Also what kind are you? How could your planet be defeated if your race was the strongest and most powerful?" asked Amy curiously.

"It's all based on personality. Defenders are peaceful, Attackers are more hostile and never seem to back down, and spellcasters are crafty and clever. Once you've discovered which kind you are, you've got to get your wingspan!"

"Wait! You're not born with your wings?!" asked Sonic in a surprised tone.

"Nope, you have to earn your wings. The whole thing is basically to prove if you are worthy to even be a part of the race. Only the best ones will do! All that really needs to be done to get your wings is walk out and wait for something to attack you. The wings just right for you will… uh… try to kill you. All you have to do is touch it though and then they're all yours. Defender's wings are big and round, sort of boring if you ask me… Attackers have sharp pointed wings that are not as wide, but longer. Spellcasters have spiral wings. Not a spiral design I mean literally spiral shape wings, so they can't exactly fly," Kaira replied.

"What about you? How did the whole disaster happen?" asked Tails.

"Me? Well, I don't exactly have a specific type. This is why the design upon my wings is spiral and why they are round and sharp. The best kind of all of them! Perfectly suited for a princess!" cheered Kaira.

Everyone eyes stretched wide with wonder. Kaira is a princess?! How could it be?!

"Yep, I know what you're thinking because I most certainly am a princess. I thought that I'd actually get the chance to lead though…," Kaira sighed.

"I can't believe it! How could you not ever get the chance to rule such an awesome place like that?! If I were you, I'd walk right up to their base and destroy them all! You have no right to let them push you around!" snapped Amy.

"Well, they didn't exactly just walk up to the atmosphere of Draynia and say "Hello everyone! I was wondering if I could just take you over right now and wipe you all out! Hope you don't mind." Kaira replied in her fake metaltron voice.

Everyone laughed. They all did have to admit that she made a valid point. The metaltrons must've had a strategy.

"The planet's name was Draynia right? How exactly did it happen? Were you captured right off the bat or what?" asked Amy.

"Draynia was just randomly attacked, we were outnumbered, an attacker named Benjamin swooped in to save my life right as the planet blew up, flew as far off as possible, crash landed on a random planet, I hatched (I wasn't born yet), but found him nowhere to be found, and turned out I was on your home planet. The reason that you haven't seen me is because I spent all my time fighting metaltrons," Kaira finished. That was all she had to tell, but it certainly was an interesting story that left Sonic's crew in awe.

"Did only the Drayans live on Draynia?" asked Cosmo.

"No because there are mermaids, dragons, griffins, unicorns, plant people, and…," Kaira thought for a few moments trying to think of more things to add to her list.

"Did you say plant people?!" asked Cosmo.

"Yes. Draynia collided with another planet a long time ago, the planet containing the plant people. It was thanks to the Spellcasters that the planet didn't blow up. Also fearing that the newcomers would be hostile, the Spellcasters put up a barrier, so that the plant people wouldn't ever know that we were there," Kaira explained.

"I am the last of the plant people, or in my case, my clan. They were wiped out by the evil metarex!" cried Cosmo.

"Those were not the metarex. We knew that your kind was strong and that you'd easily be able to put up a good fight against those things. Those were metaltrons. When the metaltrons attacked us, that was when they attacked you," Kaira replied.

"You mean,… I have been fighting the metarex just to discover that it wasn't really them?! This just can't be! One member of my clan actually became the leader of all the metarex and got other members of my clan to join! It makes no sense that it wasn't the metarex!" Cosmo replied.

"Okay, well, if he was the leader and wasn't a metarex leader yet, how did he attack? He wasn't the leader! There was no metarex back then. He created the metarex to go up against the people who were destroying his people, but went crazy and lost sight of his original goal when he got all that power. When you defeated the metarex, you didn't get rid of the real enemies. You only got rid of the planet egg thieves," Kaira explained.

"It wasn't the metarex? It was the metaltrons who destroyed my clan? My family?" asked Cosmo.

"That on the other hand, was the metarex. They obliterated the ship you were on, but they didn't destroy Greengate," Kaira replied.

Right at that very moment, Lily went wide-eyed, gasped, and fainted for some reason. Lily fell onto the floor with a loud, "Thump!" Everyone fell silent.

"What just happened?" Amy asked in a low voice. Due to the sudden change of events, Amy kept on casting nervous glances at the unconscious, purple hedgehog.

"Hm… I'm going to have to study this…," Kaira said. She instantly took out a notebook and scribbled something down onto the notebook paper. Once finished she nodded and summoned for Rabby to follow her into another room. Instantly they vanished.

"I'm never going to get any of this." Sonic sighed and then sprinted away. He hated to leave Lily on the floor, but he knew that his friends would tend to her.

 **Meanwhile…**

"Black Maple, how could you fail us?! We gave you one simple task! Now you're in for it!" the metaltron growled.

"Listen, I can explain!" begged the metarex leader desperately.

"I don't want to hear your excuses! Our leader is angrier than ever at us for this catastrophe! She says that she'll dismantle all of us if we do this again! For your mistake, you will have to suffer the consequences! Black Maple, we just can't afford to make mistakes," the metaltron replied. He began to rotate his hands in a particular motion. A magical force appeared between the metaltron's hands. It seemed to swallow the leader who was fighting back a scream of pain.

"What are you doing to me?!" cried the leader helplessly.

"I'm sending you, Black Maple, to another dimension where you can't interfere with our plans anymore. I would destroy you, but I just don't have the time. I was going to get the day off, but after your failure, I had to work twice as hard as usual! No time for a fight!" snapped the metaltron angrily.

Then in a flash, Black Maple was gone. The other metarex looked around anxiously. The shock of their leader being gone greatly troubled them. They all looked at the metaltron angrily.

"Mad at me are you? Well, your leader should have seen this coming! Good luck surviving without a leader!" the metaltron turned its back to them.

"All hail Blue Sycamore!" cheered all the metarex suddenly.

"What are you saying?! You have another leader?!" asked the metaltron in confusion.

A blue metarex stepped out of the shadows. It had a bright blue coating of metal and looked almost indestructible. It had the symbol of the metarex on its arm and it stood tall and proud as it entered the room. It was a new and improved Blue Sycamore.

"Black Maple guessed that this would happen, so he made me his second in command. I'm very sorry that Black Maple failed, but he just wasn't suited for this, so I will fill in and make the metaltrons proud to call us their allies," Blue Sycamore said boldly.

"Fine, our leader might grant you one more chance. She's bound to let you help some more now that there's a leader who can actually lead this group of evil metarex without as much fail. I will explain everything to her, but don't get your hopes too high. She might say no and then I'll have to destroy you all. Just a fair warning and I shall return once I have her answer," the metaltron replied before marching back out of the base.

"We shall not fail them again. Metarex, we need to be as strong as possible. You shall spend all of your free time getting stronger and upgrading your armor. Anything else that you do other than that will get you destroyed. Now go and do something useful," Blue Sycamore commanded. "We need to be more careful. No more mistakes for us, or we shall be done for. I am our last hope…," Blue Sycamore mumbled to himself.

 **Meanwhile with Shadow and Rouge somewhere on a mysterious planet known as Drolica…,**

"This is getting us nowhere Shadow! What are we doing here if there's nothing, but trees and grass! I can't stand all of this sunlight! I need a cave and fast!" complained Rouge.

"Quit your complaining and come on! If you want to follow me around everywhere, you can't annoy me to the point that I want to go and jump off a cliff! Now be quiet, so I can find what I'm looking for!" snapped Shadow.

"Just what is it you're looking for Shadow? Answers to questions about your past? Any trace of Molly? Something to help you remember more about Maria?" asked Rouge.

"I thought that I told you to never speak of that name! You may have used it against me once, but never again! I'm looking for the chaos emerald of course! Now do as I tell you!" Shadow growled.

A little ways away, someone was eavesdropping on them. This person also had the chaos emerald. The person was up a tree and really liked the fact that Shadow and Rouge weren't getting along.

"You can't escape from me…"

"Did you hear that Shadow?" asked Rouge.

"It's just your imagination. Now help me find that emerald!"

"No Shadow! It said that you couldn't escape from it! Would I make something up like that?!" asked Rouge.

"Yes."

"I will see you again soon Shadow, but not now. You are part of my plan and as a reward for you coming this far, I'll leave you this…"

"You heard that right Shadow?! It sounded closer than ever! Right over there in fact! It said that it left you something over there! It also said that you are part of a plan! Don't you get this Shadow?!" yelled Rouge.

"Hmph… I guess, but if this is a trick to get that chaos emerald, you are going to be in a lot of pain." Shadow shot Rouge a glance.

They walked through the trees and found the chaos emerald lying on the ground! Shadow plucked it from the ground.

"I suppose you were right, but if what you said was true, well, who was that?" Shadow asked Rouge with a sideways glance.

"Don't ask me, but if I were you, I'd keep my guard up. Don't lower it for a second. You may regret it," Rouge told Shadow.

Shadow nodded and then ran off with Rouge at his heels. He was going to find out everything he could about this mystery person. He felt unusually uncomfortable about this, and he didn't know why. It was probably nothing…, but it might have been something… He didn't know.

"Shadow, do you think that the chaos emerald was left there for you, or just lying there. If there really was something there, it must have a reason," Rouge said to Shadow.

Shadow didn't reply.

"Thinking about something?" Rouge asked.

"No. Nothing that matters," Shadow replied hastily. His eyes revealed something about his emotions, but Rouge couldn't quite put her finger on it. Longing? Sadness? For all she knew he was happy!

"Going back to Eggman? You don't really have much use for those emeralds," Rouge said with her eyes on the chaos emerald. "They're just so beautiful."

Shadow took a step away, and Rouge's heart sank. She wanted to "hang on" to the chaos emeralds, but she knew better than to mess with Shadow.

"Eggman can wait but I can't. There's another chaos emerald on this planet, and I'm going to find it. I know there's something in me that knows that there's something other than the chaos emeralds that I'm interested in."

"Let's hope that this force that's calling you isn't love. That would be creepy if you were to fall in love with someone," Rouge replied.

Shadow only shuddered. It had never occurred to him that it could happen again, but it most certainly could. Then he began to wonder what force made Rouge bring that up. It didn't matter to him anyway. Or so he thought.

"I fall desperately in love with someone? Hmph! I don't have time for that!" snapped Shadow. "What even made you think it?! You know that it just can't happen! I am solo!"

"Wow! Shadow, why are you getting so worked up? Is it because of a person that you met a long time ago?" asked Rouge.

She expected for Shadow to snap back at her, but all he did was stand in front of her. He did nothing. After twenty seconds of silence, Shadow finally responded.

"Why bring it up? It's pointless. My heart suffered enough to even try to get me to do that sort of thing again," He finally replied.

"I was kidding! I didn't know that it would upset you so much! Listen, forget I even said it! We'll change the subject!" Rouge suggested.

"Whatever! It doesn't matter! Not anymore. Why I get worked up about it I don't know! All I know is that I need to find the chaos emeralds, and that I have a purpose. I just need to find it. All you need to know is that I can never fall in love again!"


	7. Sonic X Race of Doom Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **Many Questions and Few Answers**

"So, what happened to Lily, was this your fault?! I don't exactly have all day! Why did she faint at the mention of the word Greengate?! Is she connected?!" demanded Rabby furiously. It wasn't really in her nature to freak out and get mad at someone without enough information to tell her if it really was a person, but if it involved Lily getting hurt, then she's willing to jump to conclusions about her friend.

"You're acting like it was me who did that, but no! I did nothing! I didn't even know about any of this! I summoned you to me because I need to know all I can to solve this mystery! Are you certain that she's always been on your planet because I think that this has something to do with this," Kaira replied. She glanced over to Rabby and tried to read her mind, but Rabby's mind was guarded by a thick fog that not even she could break through.

"Actually, I guess she hasn't because when I first met her it was in a shipwreck. When I say that, I mean a spaceship and not a giant boat. I still don't get how knowing this helps!" Rabby shouted angrily.

"Calm down Rabby! What I was thinking was that maybe I could figure this out if I knew where she came from. It might be possible that she came from Greengate and forgot about it. She fainted because the discovery of Greengate being included with my story, my story has nothing to do with this, caused this little trigger in her mind because it was a forgotten memory that she's been trying to remember. Her whole body shut down to try and remember where she's heard it from. I've seen it happen once or twice," Kaira replied.

"Wow! Will she be all right? I've got this strange feeling that she isn't who she says she is. I think I remember giving her the name Lily because she couldn't remember her name. I thought that it would be temporary and that she'd remember, but she hasn't remembered yet…," Rabby answered.

"W-what happened? Did I pass out or something?" asked Lily groggily as she got up from the floor.

"What's your name, where did you come from, and what are you doing here?" asked Rabby.

"I'm Lily, I come from the planet that Rabby lives on, and I am here because I agreed to come with Rabby on a journey through outer space to stop metarex," replied Lily.

"Why'd she wake up if she didn't remember? Doesn't she wake up when she remembers?" asked Rabby.

"The brain simply gave up on finding what the word meant or was out and erased the word from her mind to make sure that it doesn't bug her anymore. Yes, she wakes up if she remembers, but the brain gives up if she doesn't and she wakes up then also," Kaira replied.

"What?" asked Lily in a confused and groggy voice.

"I'm becoming just as confused as you are Lily. How long does it take for the brain to just simply give up?" asked Rabby curiously.

"It could take a few minutes, a week, a month, or years… We got lucky. I once had a friend who was passed out for about six years because of something like this and he still didn't remember anything!" Kaira exclaimed.

"Hold on a second…," said Lily slowly.

"What?!" asked Rabby.

"Come to think of it… I think that I may know something about that. Are you talking about Greengate? The planet that Cosmo's clan comes from?" asked Lily.

"She remembered when she was awake! I've never seen that happen before! Another thing to add to my list of things that I didn't expect that actually happened," Kaira said. She got out the list and wrote it down.

"She has a list for that?" asked Lily.

"I guess… Yes, Greengate is the planet where the plant people come from. What do you know about it?!" asked Rabby excitedly.

"Only that I come from there and had some sort of connection with the Drayans," Lily replied.

"I think that you should have Tails do an experiment on you just in case if you didn't retrieve an actual memory because that has happened before," Kaira told her.

"Alright and- aaaaaaaaaah!" cried Lily.

Instantly they were falling! Actually, the Blue Typhoon was falling. The alarms went off and they could hear Tails screaming to everyone over the megaphone built into the ship. Everybody was yelling in panic!

"Red alert! I have accidently flown too close to the atmosphere of a mysterious planet that my radar couldn't pick up! All of you prepare for emergency landing!" cried Tails.

"What's the emergency landing?!"

CRASH! POW! BOOM!

"I think that's the emergency landing…," Kaira replied. She looked a little banged up from the fall and being shoved into a wall, but she was fine.

"What happened?" asked Rabby.

"I think that we crash landed on a planet and since I have a lot of experience with identifying strange force fields, I know that a truth telling shield is put up and around the planet!" said Kaira.

"I won't have to doubt anyone anymore!" Rabby cheered.

"Be careful what you say. You don't want to say something totally humiliating. You know, like I'm in desperate need of a microwave," Kaira said.

"Why do you want a microwave?" asked Lily.

"I don't know. I was just using that as an example you know. Besides, the Blue Typhoon doesn't have a microwave," Kaira answered.

"Oh, I didn't know that" Rabby replied.

 **Meanwhile, the metarex were making battle strategies to use in battle against Sonic if they ever met in combat.** At least they weren't playing checkers like they normally do. The metaltron was taking longer than usual, and Blue Sycamore didn't like having to wait for it. It finally returned with news from their leader.

"Blue Sycamore, the leader says that she'll give you one more chance due to how good you did on your last mission. Are you ready for your first task from us as leader?" asked the metaltron.

"Why yes. We have been training ourselves for battle and upgrading our weapons and armor. We are ready!" Blue Sycamore replied.

"Good. You need to split your army into groups because we need you to retrieve something. Actually, somethings," the metaltron told them.

The metaltron whispered something to Blue Sycamore and they began cackling once the metaltron was done explaining. The other metarex just looked around at each other and shrugged. Blue Sycamore then got serious.

"I love the plan, but how are we supposed to do all that? I mean, it seems rather complicated. What if we can't do it?" Blue Sycamore asked.

"Have faith in your men. With you as their leader, we won't fail again! Don't fail for your sake!" the metaltron answered as it walked back out of the metarex base.

"I hope that we don't blow it…," Blue Sycamore sighed.

 **At that very moment, Shadow and Rouge felt that they were very close to the chaos emerald and didn't expect this one thing to happen…**

"Shadow, how do you know if we're close? Do you have a chaos emerald tracking device on you? If you do, I'd love to have it!" said Rouge.

"Never in a million years Rouge. Besides, I don't even have a chaos emerald tracker. I'd like to have one, but Dr. Eggman doesn't let me have one permanently. The reason that I know is because of the force! It's getting stronger. I think that this force is leading me to the chaos emerald. Rouge, fly ahead and see what you can see, anything unusual. Got that?" asked Shadow.

"Sure thing, but if I find a cave, you won't see me much anymore because I won't be leaving!" Rouge answered. She flew ahead and let out a shocked shout of amazement.

"What is it?!" demanded Shadow.

"Look at that! It's amazing!" cried Rouge pointing up at the giant structure in front of them.

Right in front of their eyes was a giant pyramid shaped temple. It had large stairs leading into it and ancient writings were on the outside walls. It had lots of cracks and vines wrapped around the temple and climbed up through the cracks. The temple was obviously very old.

"Rouge, the chaos emerald is inside of the temple. Let's go!" Shadow snapped.

They race up the steps, but right as Rouge was about to fly in, she crashed into something. She was flung backwards and she nearly fell all the way back down the stairs. Luckily, Shadow flipped around and grabbed her and saved her from falling.

"Rouge?!" asked Shadow.

"I'm fine, but what was that?" asked Rouge as she tried to stand up.

"I think that it was a force field of some sort that only I can go through. Why me I don't know. You'll have to stay here. Okay with you Rouge?" asked Shadow.

"Yeah, I just want that chaos emerald…," Rouge mumbled.

"I'll be back soon and don't run off." Shadow nodded and ran into the giant temple. He looked back one more time before plunging into the darkness of the hallways.

"I can't see anything! I wish that I had a torch!" Shadow said to himself as he nearly walked into a wall.

"Hissssssssss words of ssssnakessss…" a voice said to him.

"The words of the snakes? What's that supposed to mean? Whatever! I don't need light or directions!" snapped Shadow.

"Follow the words of the ssssnakessss… The words of the ssssnakessss… They will light your path…," the voice said again.

"I said that I don't need- GAH!" Shadow ran into another wall and he knew that he'd have to figure out what the words meant. He felt the wall that he ran into and noticed that there was something carved into it. A symbol! He ran to the other wall and ran his hand over that one and noticed that there were no markings on it.

"That was easy… If only if I could see! I wonder if this entire place is dark!" snapped Shadow. He ran along the wall with the marks in them, but then felt something else. It felt like a big stone button. He decided to press it. It was probably a trap, but he was willing to try anything.

The floor began to shake just as he did, but only for a moment because out of the corners of the room, fire flew out of the holes in the wall and lit the torches on the walls. Instantly, the temple was very well lit and Shadow jumped in surprise.

"That was too simple…, but I think that there's more here than hallways that light themselves. Why am I talking to myself?!" he asked himself with irritation.

He continued through the endless hallways and was getting frustrated after an hour. He pounded his fist on the wall. The lights all went out!

"Darn it all! I can't see and I'm not going back to find that button! What am I supposed to do now?!" yelled Shadow with great frustration.

"Well, look who's come to our temple. I'm glad that ssssomething's finally come! I haven't eaten in sssix million yearsssss…," a voice in the darkness hissed.

"He must be a chosen one otherwissse he'd still be sssstuck outside because of that barrier at the door that locked us in. What should we do? Shall we feasssst on his flesh?" hissed a second voice.

"Snakes, I should've known. Well, you won't have me. Where is that chaos emerald?!" demanded Shadow.

"What'sss he talking about, thesssse chaosss emeraldssss? Could he be talking of the emerald dark as midnight, but clear as ice? The one hidden here that only we can accessss? He knowsss of the color emerald of the black sssstorm that has been dormant for centuriesss. Well, we are the guardiansss of the black color emerald." The snake slithered closer, and despite the fact that Shadow couldn't see it, he could feel it wrapping around his legs. Shadow sprang backwards to escape its grip.

"Hmph! Hedgehog thinkssss he can find it on his own does he? Fine with usss, but we shall be watching. Any misssstake you make in this labyrinth might be your lassst and if you do, be prepared to feel our fangsss!" a snake yelled as it slithered away.

"Great…," Shadow mumbled to himself.

He continued on and on and on and on still. He didn't know of what lie ahead although, he continued for his sake. Shadow may be the ultimate life form, but not even he could see in the dark. Or fight in it.


	8. Sonic X Race of Doom Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Apple's Home Planet**

"Where are we? It looks like a planet covered with nothing but greenery! I like it, but what if we don't get up off the ground? This all worries me!" screamed Sonic in terror.

"I didn't know that Sonic always hides all of this terror each time we land on a planet that we know nothing about!" Amy exclaimed.

"I'm scared of tacos!" yelled Knuckles.

Everyone stared at Knuckles for a few moments and then burst out laughing. Sure he brought it up once, but they didn't know that tacos terrified him.

"I want my mommy!" Cream cried.

Everyone started screaming totally random things that were the truth and they couldn't control it either. They all seemed to be stuck until finally Tails told them to just be quiet because they were getting on his nerves. They all looked to Tails for instructions on what to do and Tails gave them each assignments and they all agreed. Suddenly, Apple realized something.

"Hey, we're on my home planet! I'm back at home!" cried Apple happily.

"Awesome!" Sonic yelled happily, but then turned confused, "Were you the only one who lived here because I'm pretty sure that you had mentioned to me that there were a lot of people on this planet and in your family. Where are they? Do they live in those trees?"

"Yep, you should be able to see the door on the other side of the tree. It's a lot roomier than it looks. Trust me. Everyone here's also very friendly!" Apple assured him.

Sonic just shrugged. He left the Blue Typhoon to go and explore the new planet. He left a cloud of dust behind him when he ran off. Everyone else followed close behind. Tails split them up into groups with Sonic on his own, Apple, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Cosmo in another, Tails, Lily, Rabby, Kaira, and Knuckles in the last. They were all soon scattered around all over the place in their groups.

Sonic was just walking along down the road when he saw something, something unexpected, something delicious. There was a taco on the ground in front of him. Sonic bent down to pick it up.

"I can't believe my luck! I'll take free lunch any day! I don't care if it's been on the ground all day. You can't stop me from eating this!" yelled Sonic.

"Hey!"

"What was that? Was it a person? Hello? Anybody around here?" asked Sonic, looking around in a big circle.

"Look at the taco in your hand."

"Look at my taco in my hand? It's just a- Waaaaaaaa!" cried Sonic dropping the taco.

"Hi! I'm a taco turtle! You see, I'm a taco turtle who looks like a taco! Were you planning on eating me?!" snapped the taco turtle.

"Now I see why Knuckles is so scared of tacos… Yes! I mean, yes! Wait, I didn't want to say that! I wanted to say no! Do you know what's going on?!" cried Sonic.

"It's the truth telling atmosphere. As long as we have that, nobody can tell a lie," the taco turtle answered.

"Okay. I'm sorry that I tried to eat you, but if I knew that you were a taco turtle, then I would've left you alone. I'll never eat another taco ever again!" cried Sonic inching away from the taco turtle.

"Hmph! Fine, I'll believe you for now!" yelled the taco turtle as it ran off. Sonic followed and found himself in front of the taco turtles' home. He screamed in terror and fled from the dreadful place.

Meanwhile, Apple was looking through his old house and noticed that everything was either gone, or in ruins.

"What did the metarex do here at my house?! Don't tell me that after they caught us they searched through our stuff and destroyed everything. I hate those heartless thugs!" cried Apple helplessly.

He found a picture of his family lying on the ground in a shattered frame. He picked it up and took the picture out. Carefully, he folded it up and held it in his hands as if it were the most important thing in the world at that one moment.

"Where are you…, I know that you're somewhere. I'll destroy all of those metarex! I will destroy them!" yelled Apple angrily.

"Apple, are you okay?" asked Amy.

"Those metarex take away everything that I love. I am going to punish them all! They will pay for all that they've done to me, my family, and everyone! They deserve it," Apple said.

"I know how you feel and I want to help all of those who are being terrorized by the metarex as well, although, it won't help to get upset about it Apple. We will find them and we won't stop looking," Amy told him.

"Amy's right and we'll be right here next to you all the way," Cream said from in the doorway.

"Chao!" Cheese agreed.

"The metarex did the same thing to me as they did to you. They destroyed my family and only I survived, but only because they thought that I'd be a good spy. I'm not one now, but even if I still was, I'd still want to fight them and help you find your family," Cosmo answered.

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate it," Apple replied.

The four of them walked back outside and noticed Sonic running for his life for… no reason? Amy, Cosmo, Apple, Cream, and Cheese stared after him. Amy began to run after him and the other three continued watching.

"Sonic, what's wrong?!" demanded Amy.

"T-T-TACO!" cried Sonic. He turned again and ran off in terror.

"Don't tell me that Sonic's running from a taco! I thought he loved tacos! Maybe I should remember that he's scared of them…," said Amy with a disappointed look.

She turned around and saw a big cloud of dust flying towards her and she quickly ran out of the way. A stampede of taco turtles were charging him. The four of them stared at the stampede in astonishment. Apple shifted awkwardly.

"I'll never eat a taco ever again…," mumbled Apple.

Tails, Knuckles, Lily, Rabby, and Kaira scurried up to them. Tails looked around in search of Sonic and got worried.

"We heard Sonic screaming and had to come investigate. Where's Sonic? What's wrong? Did you see him?" asked Tails.

"He's being chased by a stampede of taco turtles," Amy replied.

"Why should I believe that Sonic's being chased by a horde of taco turtles?! That's got to be the most ridiculous thing I've heard all day! Where did you come up with that Amy?" asked Tails.

"Oh, look at that. It's the demonstration to get Tails to believe in the taco turtles. Looks like they haven't been giving Sonic a break," Apple commented.

Sonic stormed up to Tails and started panting heavily. He looked behind him in fear and when he didn't see anything, he sighed with relief.

"Sonic, what's wrong?!" demanded Tails.

"I've got about twenty seconds before they come again! Please Tails, help me somehow! They all hate me!" cried Sonic desperately.

"Save you from what?!" asked Tails.

"The millions and millions of tiny adorable demons that want me dead!" cried Sonic.

"Demons?!" cried Tails in horror.

"Yeah, and they look an awful lot like one of my favorite things! Please Tails, help me now! I can see them coming!" wept Sonic with an even more petrified look on his face.

A cloud of dust in the distance was racing up at the path of dust that Sonic had left behind him. They stormed up to Sonic and stopped. Tails went bug-eyed at what he saw. A horde of taco turtles stood in front of him and nearly gave Tails a heart attack.

"Did you call us ridiculous?" asked a taco turtle.

"Y-yes… I mean yes! Wait, I meant to say no!" declared Tails.

"Ah, the truth-telling atmosphere ends up in our favor again. You've gotta love that thing," another taco turtle replied.

"Truth-telling atmosphere?" asked Knuckles.

"Hmmmm… You all must be newcomers. If so, I'll tell you that nobody on this planet due to the atmosphere that prevents all from telling lies. The people who dwell here don't trust outsiders, so a rainbow fox named Rainbowta, cast a spell on our atmosphere causing everyone to tell the truth. That's why we made she, and her husband the king and queen of this land!" announced another taco turtle stepping forward.

Apple gasped in astonishment and looked down at his hands. He looked back up at his friends.

"My mother is Rainbowta! Are you saying that I am a prince?!" demanded Apple.

"King Gold and Queen Rainbowta are your parents?! I'm so sorry my dear prince for my behavior! May we have your name?" asked the taco turtle.

"My name's Apple, but you don't have to put the royal prince stuff in front of it. Do you know where everyone is?" asked Apple.

"We have no idea. A bunch of metal robots appeared all of the sudden and hauled everyone away. We haven't seen anyone since!" exclaimed the taco turtle.

"Why didn't they take you?" asked Amy.

"They viewed us as too ridiculous to be a threat to them, so they left us alone. Taco turtles were once known for being stupid, but we have evolved to make ourselves useful and smart. The big robots didn't know that, so they took everyone else, but left us," it replied.

Apple turned and left sadly. He didn't know if they were all split up onto metarex ships and taken prisoner to become metarex, or dead. He sincerely hoped neither would happen to any of them.

Kaira's wings pricked up and she noticed a grate on the ground. She nudged Sonic and he swiftly made his way over to it. Sonic ran his finger over it and tried to open it, but it was stuck in place.

"Hey, guys! I found something!" shouted Sonic.

"Found what? A clue?" asked Tails.

"This grate on the ground is what I found. Does any of you know where it goes to?" asked Sonic to the turtles. They shook their heads.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we found more clues down there. Sonic's hunches are usually correct, so we're bound to find something," Amy replied.

Knuckles pounded on the grate with all of his might, but only made a tiny dent in it. Knuckles the echidna is able to split even the biggest boulder in the universe in two, but this was made of no ordinary metal. It was a metal that they were all familiar with.

"I think that I got it! The metal is made out of the same stuff that the metarex leaders use for their armor! This must be the place where they get it all from! If so, some metarex must be here to guard it because it's the strongest defense that they have! Also, they might be able to tell us where the people who live on this planet are," Tails said.

"That makes sense, but how are we supposed to open the grate? If Knuckles can't do it, then who can?" asked Cream curiously.

"Chao?" asked Cheese.

"We could melt the grate if we had something hot enough I suppose…," thought Apple.

"No, that wouldn't work because heat alone won't be able to burn through that metal. Maybe acid?" asked Rabby.

"How about both heat and acid? Would that work?" asked Lily.

"I'm not sure what kind of reaction that would have if we were to simply mix lava and acid together. I don't know that much about the substances here…," said Tails.

"You could use the thing that totally evaporates that substance! It's only found in one place in the universe and that's here. In the Canyon of Dust, you can find a fountain that produces this stuff, but not much of it. It only makes it once a year. The metarex has tons of that stuff that could melt anything that they choose. The reason that you haven't seen it is because they only just discovered it about a year ago and stole all of the material that the fountain made. It's also said to have been made by the magic of one who has more power than we could stand about, well, two years ago," answered the chief of the taco turtles.

Kaira felt chills run up and down her spine when she heard the word "magic". The words "said to have been made by the magic of one who had more power than we could stand," didn't help either. Sonic must've also noticed because he glanced over at her with a suspicious glance.

"Well, we now have a date with the Canyon of Dust. Let's go get that substance!" Sonic shouted.

"We only have one warning for you. Only one can enter the Canyon of Dust at a time," warned the chief taco turtle.

"Why?" asked Sonic.

"The venomous snakes and scorpions go after those who travel in groups, but it is harder to get those who are alone. I know what you're thinking. Snakes and scorpions can't catch me because I'm way too fast for them. That may be so, but they read minds and know your every move. Worst of all, they're invisible," said the chief taco turtle.

"What does their venom do?" asked Tails.

"The venom will not kill you. That's the only good news. The bad news is that it'll make you forgetful and you forever wander around in circles in the canyon all because you can't remember what you were doing three seconds ago," finished the chief taco turtle.

"Well, then I'll just not have to get bitten or stung!" Sonic yelled determinedly. He knew that his super speed would be of hardly any use in the canyon. He'll have to use courage and spirit alone. There was only one problem for him. He wasn't sure if he'd come out alive.

 **Meanwhile, with Shadow, who is totally lost.** If you looked up lost in a dictionary, Shadow's face would be there. He was wandering the halls of the snake temple and hardly knew where he was going or what he was doing.

"I can't see anything! Is this supposed to be a test?! There are snakes spying on me and I'm completely lost! What a way to spend the day," Shadow snapped to himself.

He ran his hand along the wall and suddenly, felt holes within the wall! He jumped back and quickly realized that they were packed with arrows and knives. He would have to run full speed at the other side, or die trying. He looked ahead of him, and sprinted! Within a millisecond, he was safe on the other side and arrows pierced the wall violently.

Shadow continued down the hallway and wondered what would be next.

 **Outside with Rouge,...**

"I wonder if Shadow's okay…," she said to herself staring into the door of the pyramid It was tall, dark and ominous… She didn't want Shadow to not come out. If that were to happen, she'd have to crawl back to Eggman. That was the last thing that she wanted to do. Rouge placed her hand on the invisible force field that separated her from him.

"You're still more than my ally, more than my partner, but you are my friend Shadow the hedgehog…," she whispered into the tunnel of never ending darkness that lay in front of her.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Shadow came sprinting through the trees full speed and raced into the tunnel without being stopped by the invisible force field! Two seconds later, it was silent again and Rouge was dumbfounded.

She flew laps around the pyramid trying to find an exit, but there was only one way in and one way out. She flew back to the door wondering if she only imagined it.

Rouge made her way back down the stairs and found a footprint. Shadow's footprint to be specific. Rouge never recalled being over here flapping next to Shadow. Their footprints were on another side of the pyramid. They jumped up onto the stairs from the side. A clue.

Rouge followed it, but it soon ended in a clearing. She searched around. These aren't Shadow's footprints… Finally, she remembered something that could have been important.

"You can't escape from me…,"

"That voice! That's what went after Shadow! It must be! That's the only explanation for what happened earlier! If that's who went after Shadow, then it must be able to shapeshift or something. I think that he'll be safe however, because if that thing just leaves chaos emeralds up for grabs, then it probably won't just sit and watch him suffer," said Rouge to herself going back to the pyramid.

 **Back within the temple...**

"I've been walking in this thing for two hours now! Where's the end?!" demanded Shadow to the snakes who he knew were somewhere.

 **As he was continuing on, a hedgehog who looked exactly like him, stormed through the hallways, passed the traps, didn't go down the dead ends, and found the button that lit up the temple.**

"Wha-?! Darn it! My eyes can't adjust that fast…," Shadow said with surprise. He flipped around and didn't see anything. Shadow simply shrugged and staggered on.

 **Three minutes later,...**

"I guess that this is a little more bearable now that the lights are on, but how long is this thing? If I have to go on for any longer, I'll simply- Nevermind, I made it I'm guessing," Shadow said staring up at something that looked like a shrine for the emerald.

"Congratulationssss! You made it to the shrine of the color emerald… Let'sss ssseee if you are worthy if thisssss," replied one of the snakes appearing from a crack in the wall. The other came after it.

"If you want to see my power, you just got the perfect chance!" Shadow told them tauntingly. He crouched down to prepare himself for a spin dash.

Right at that moment, the hedgehog jumped out of nowhere and used something that looked like a chaos spear. The snakes were so focused on Shadow, that they didn't notice that a chaos spear was flying at them 'till the last second. They shrieked and the spear struck them. When the electrical energy settled down, the snakes were gone and so was the hedgehog.

"That was… interesting…," Shadow said as he began to approach the shrine.

He stared at the emerald, but it was different from all the others. It was black. Black as a storm, but clear as a starry night. Clear as ice… It was weird. He felt a force from it like never before.

"Grab me… Grab me… I will bring you a great destiny... ," it seemed to tell him. It shimmered and glittered more and more as Shadow's hand approached it.

Then, Shadow snatched it from its resting place! The gem stone began to glow a dark light and it grew hot in his hands! It floated up into the air and slammed into Shadow's chest causing him and the gem to merge together. He could feel the power in his chest. Not painful, but more like a weird sensation that won't stop bugging him. It also made him feel like he had the power to do almost anything! He stumbled backwards and the effects of it finally started to go away. He collapsed on the ground and sighed.

Rouge.

What is she thinking at the moment? Is she worried that I won't come back like she did all those other times? I must go back. For her. Right now.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake and the walls cracked! The color emerald must have been the only thing that was holding the place together. Shadow was about to race out as fast as he could when the hedgehog appeared again! It dragged Shadow down the hallways, around the corners, through the traps, and went way faster than Shadow preferred. It was all very new to him. Being dragged anyways, so he didn't know what to expect.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Shadow demanded angrily at the hedgehog. He bit back an insult to go with his sentence. Maria wouldn't be happy. Did that mean that he had to be nice to Rouge from now on?

The hedgehog that looked like him didn't answer. It was too busy navigating the hallways at horrifyingly dangerous speeds. They raced past a giant rock that was once a part of the ceiling and they very nearly got crushed by another giant rock that was falling off from the ceiling. It was just scary that they were going through what seemed to be a racetrack to their deaths.

Finally, Shadow and the other hedgehog raced out of the door and landed on the ground in front of Rouge. The hedgehog looked at Shadow for a moment and then ran off back into the bright green trees of the forest.

"Who do you suppose that was?" asked Rouge to Shadow.

"Don't ask me because I don't know." Shadow glanced around to see where it went, but it was gone without a trace. Not even footprints.

"Will we see that hedgehog again?" asked Rouge curiously.

"We'll never know…," Shadow said in reply.

"AAAAAAAAH!"

Crash!

"What?! Who's that?" asked Rouge pointing at the person who fell onto the ground. She had long black hair, emerald green wings with a spiral pattern in them. They were long and pointy, but sort of roundish as well. Looked about in her teens. She glanced up at Shadow and Rouge.

"Who are you?! Why are you here?" demanded Shadow to her coldly. He crossed his arms at her.

"My name is Zaira! Hi. I'm here because I was horrifyingly lost in outer space! HEY! YOU COULD USE SOMEONE TO GO ALONG WITH YOU! I know you do! Please! Please! PLEEEEEEEEASE!" she begged loudly and in a very annoying fashion.

"No." Shadow began walking off with Rouge walking next to him.

"YAY! I get to follow you two around EVERYWHERE!" she replied happily.

"I thought I said no. Besides, don't you have anything better to do?! I need to return to Dr. Eggman to see if he has any good plans for these things," said Shadow looking down at the chaos emerald in his hands.

"WOW! SHINY THING!" she yelled snatching it from his hands. Quickly, she inspected it. Every edge and every side.

"Give it back," said Shadow threateningly. He snatched it back and ran his fingers over it. He then glared at Zaira before storming off. Rouge followed of course.

Zaira flared her wings and bolted after him.

"You selfish idiot! Get back here! I want to keep following you! That and your eyes are very sparkly… and pretty...," she mumbled.

"They're what?!" demanded Shadow flipping around and staring at her with a really annoyed look.

Rouge only shuddered. She turned to Shadow he looked at her. Shadow's nightmares have come true…


	9. Sonic X Race of Doom Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **The Canyon of Dust**

"Sonic, are you sure that you'll be okay? Do you want to send in Tails because he can fly through!" Amy said hugging Sonic like never before.

"I can't risk losing my best friend in the universe and our captain. Besides, I love adventure and I want to give you another reason to have me as a hero I guess," said Sonic.

"What? I didn't know that you were concerned with being everyone's favorite hero" said Amy.

"Nevermind. You'll be seeing me again. That is certain!" said Sonic dashing away with one last look back at his friends.

Goodbye Tails, Apple, Cosmo, Knuckles, Kaira, Cream, Cheese, and Amy. I hope that I come back out. If I don't, the universe is instantly in danger… I determine the fate of the universe don't I? Ugh! I hate all this pressure on me! Whatever! I love a new challenge. It's what I live for. Okay then, I'll make it out of here in one piece for sure then! I wish for my team not to worry about me and for me to come out alive…

All of those thoughts were flying through Sonic's head as he ran off into the Canyon of Dust. The possible last thoughts. The possible last wishes. The possible last words.

"Alright snakes, scorpions, or whatever, give me your best shot! I'm only trespassing on your territory and I need to be bitten, so give me a challenge, or I'll rename the canyon 'Lamest Place on Earth'!" shouted Sonic with a smirk.

His spirit soared like an eagle on the wind. He was at one with the wind and he let its recklessness take control. Oh yeah, this is true living for Sonic.

Sonic zipped through a narrow pass. He was certain that he heard something hiss at him as he raced by. At the very end, he ran into a fountain. It was overflowing with some sort of dust thing. Sort of like pixie dust! Although, whenever it hit the ground, the ground would start to melt.

Tails had given him a pouch that was immune to the effects of the dust. Sonic got it out and was about to get a bunch of it, but stopped dead when he felt something slither around his legs. Sonic jumped in panic and filled the pouch before running off to the entrance.

Suddenly, all the snakes and scorpions seemed to start closing in on him. Sonic assumed that they were laughing at him. Each time they hissed and growled they mocked him. To Sonic they said, "What feeble attempts to avoid us! You can't run from us! Not even friends, Tails or dust can save you!" they seemed to say.

The entrance was within reach and he was bolting full speed, but right as he was out of the Canyon of Dust, he felt fangs. A poisonous barb. The poison was injected into him and he felt the effects begin to start. The past was erasing itself and he gripped his head trying to make it stop. Everything was nothing more than something that was a long lost memory.

"N-No…," Sonic forced out of his mouth before collapsing. Everything went black…

 **Back with the Shadow the Hedgehog,**

"Rouge, how do you get someone to shut up?!" asked Shadow.

"Nothing can keep her quiet! Well, maybe if you took her mouth off, but that still wouldn't stop her," she replied.

"Look, I have an idea. You give me my motorcycle, and I crush her!" Shadow snapped far more loudly than he intended.

"Oh, were you planning on KILLING ME?! Alright, there's only one thing to do! You'll feel MORE PAIN!" shouted Zaira angrily.

"Really?"

"I know all that there is to know about meter sticks! They are always a meter long, but why a meter? I never get it. Why not have something like, a mile long meter stick? It would be a pain in the neck to carry around, but whoever makes it will get credit for individuality I suppose… And-"

"Make her SHUT UP!" Shadow shouted.

"Like I said, that's impossible!" Rouge snapped back.

"It's bad enough that she likes me, but really!? My head is going to explode!" shouted Shadow.

"Meter sticks also seem to be better when made out of wood, but how about something like, a metal one!" said Zaira.

"Listen, get on my nerves any more, and I'll snap your neck!" snapped Shadow.

"...Meter sticks are awesome! Have you ever seen one? Have you? Have you?! HAVE YOU?! Wow, the sun has nearly set! What do we do now?" asked Zaira.

"We're going to have to spend the night. You are going to either shut up and get lost, or shut up and make like a bee and buzz off!" snapped Shadow even more harshly.

"Aye captain! I shall leave your presence for a little while! I don't like sleeping on the ground. Trees are SO much better. It's like I've got the brain of a bird!" said Zaira while saluting Shadow and Rouge.

"Well, take your bird-brain and leave us alone! I've got to find a fairly nice dark tree to sleep in and only Shadow thinks that the ground is pleasant," Rouge said in reply.

"I don't have wings like you two. I also think that it builds up endurance to put up with the cold hard ground every night. See you later Rouge. Hope to see you never again Zaira," he said walking off into the darkness of the trees in the forest.

"Hmph. I suppose that I'll have to agree with Shadow on how annoying you are," Rouge said while flying off in another direction.

Zaira stood silently for a few moments in the clearing and sighed. With nobody there, she felt a deep loneliness tugging at her. She knew that feeling all too well. Bad experiences from the past flooded into her head and she had to shove them out.

"Just a little bit longer… Put up with this for a little bit longer… He'll like you too one day… Nobody's won his heart yet…, except for maybe Rouge. People never did ever agree with me…, but they never did know that I'm the one who they'd like the most. All my life I've been rejected. I only have to wait a little bit longer and he will notice something about me…"

 **Back at the Blue Typhoon,** everyone was so concerned with Sonic that they didn't know that the Blue Typhoon had a thief aboard…

She dashed down a hallway and made a turn. Somehow she knew precisely where she was going. Her short hair was constantly flying into her eyes and her wings that were long and roundish and pointed at the end. However, the lights were off and nobody would have been able tell who it was. Her brown eyes flickered with interest for a moment.

"I'm surprised that they don't have any invisible lasers or alarms around their chaos emeralds. That only makes stealing from these guys a whole lot easier. They have three chaos emeralds, the metarex have one, and the metaltrons have the others within their possession. Well, I guess that after that idiot Zaira stole it from them and gave it to Shadow, they only have two, but no matter. Now, they have five. If the metarex have one and are working for us, then that means that we now have six. We only have to steal the chaos emerald from Shadow now… We have a plan for that right?" asked the being with a voice exactly like Kaira's to her wrist communicator.

"Why, yes commander. The only way to get it is by, well, we'll talk about it once you get back," said a metaltron voice on the other end.

"Understood. Returning with the emeralds now." she turned off the device and snagged the chaos emeralds. She smirked and turned. A camera was watching the whole thing. Finally, she jumped away.

 **Back with Sonic,** he was just beginning to recover from the bite, but not the effects, but ever since being bitten and stung, he's been unconscious…

"Wha-? Where am I? Who am I? What happened?" asked Sonic in a dazed and confused tone of voice. His vision was sort of blurred, but soon cleared. He sat up.

"Sonic! I'm so glad that you're okay! I was so worried that the bite and sting would cause you to die, but you're alive I can't believe it! How are you feeling?" asked Amy with tears of joy streaming down her face.

Sonic tilted his head at her and glanced around as if he were wondering where he was now and then glanced back at Amy. He tried to stand up, but the bite and sting on his legs hurt too much, so he climbed back onto the bed.

"Um…, who are you again? Wait, what were we just talking about? What happened to me?" asked Sonic.

"...Tails! Sonic needs your help!" Amy screamed.

Two minutes later, Tails was there with his science stuff trying to explain to Sonic what had happened, but all he did was forget everything he said.

"Well, from what I could gather, there's only one antidote. The cure is a special plant that grows underground on this planet. Before we get that, we need to get under that manhole cover! Thankfully, Sonic got us a whole bunch of the material that we need to get through it. We tried digging, but the metarex only had more of the metal under the ground to block us from getting to it. I also think that I can make a pair of shoes that can give Sonic more intelligence for a little while. Sonic, do you want to try it?" asked Tails.

"Sure! Wait, try what?" asked Sonic.

"Nevermind. Memory shoes that run on batteries take one!" Tails yelled as he turned them on. A bright yellow light flew through them.

"Er- Wha- Tails? What happened? Where's the others? Did you get the material?!" demanded Sonic urgently.

"Yes, we did thanks to you. Everyone's here on the Blue Typhoon, and don't take off your shoes or you'll forget everything," said Tails.

"Well, that's comforting. How long was I out?" asked Sonic.

"About six days…," Amy replied sadly.

Sonic shook his head disbelievingly. When he discovered that they weren't joking, he sighed and tried to hop out of the bed again, but pain only surged through his legs again.

"Sonic, I'd recommend that you stay off of your feet for a little while. The last thing that we want is for you to open your wound. I thought that it would never start to heal, but it will leave a scar though. You're alright with that right?" asked Tails.

"Sure. The scar might make me mad, but okay. Oh, Amy, how long were you standing next to me while I was passed out? You didn't do anything did you? If you said that you did, I'm going to flip out," said Sonic.

"I think I've stood here next to you for about a day if you put all the hours I spent here together. Also, I might have done one little thing… You don't mind if I totally did hug you do you?" asked Amy. She now looked all lovey-dovey and her gaze seemed to burn into Sonic's skin.

"Er- no…," Sonic finally replied after a long pause. He was going to faint if she said kiss or anything like that, but he was okay with a hug by her. He was unconscious, but it still made him nervous. He cringed at the thought of him and Amy in the future married, and children, and totally-not-free-to-run-at-all-and-must-stay-there-and- UGH! It totally scared him. To always get slowed down by that sort of thing. He'd never again leave his house with no regrets, never get to run around like crazy without distractions, and worst of all, he would never again be truly alive, happy, or free. That more than scared him. No. Never. No matter what you do Amy, I'll never go along with it. I can't for the sake of me and the universe.

"Sonic? Why are you making those weird faces?" asked Amy with a concerned look.

"Uh…, just thinking about stuff. Don't worry. I'm fine," Sonic replied assuringly. He smiled and gave her a thumbs up. He knew that she felt better when she saw that.

"That's strange," Tails said while looking at a screen. It had a little red box flashing at the bottom of it. Sonic couldn't read it from that far away.

"What is it Tails? Is there a problem?" asked Sonic from his bed and nearly fell out from trying to see it, but couldn't.

"The power from the chaos emeralds disappeared. Well, that, or the machine detecting it simply broke, and the alarms didn't go off, so I think that the machine is only malfunctioning.

"Okay, well, let's go save the people of this planet now. I can manage fighting without using my legs. I only have to walk around on my arms and use spin attacks," said Sonic.

"Not a chance Sonic! You need to recover. We'll go save them. Rabby knows how to deactivate the metarex and Lily told us that the metarex have a weak spot on their backs. Don't worry Sonic! We'll be fine!" Tails said while leaving the room.

"Are you sure?! I'm not used to being left behind like this! Don't leave me Tails and Amy! I want to fight!" yelled Sonic.

"Stay there!" both Amy and Tails shouted in perfect sync at Sonic causing him to completely stop complaining all together. Sonic slouched on his bed and looked bored.

"Sorry Sonic, but we can't risk you getting hurt again. You need to recover. Also, the shoes, the more you use them, the faster they run out of power and we don't have any more batteries, so just keep off your feet for a while. See ya later!" Amy told Sonic before running off with Tails.

"Sorry Sonic, but we can't risk you getting hurt again, so just keep off your feet for a while. Hmph! They're making me feel like Shadow!" snapped Sonic angrily.

After a few minutes, Sonic was so bored that he fell asleep. Within the dream, he was running out of the Blue Typhoon and to the manhole cover that was already melted. He hopped into it, but noticed that his friends had already been there. After searching everywhere in the base he finally found some metarex and they turned to fight.

"Ah, Sonic the Hedgehog… It's a pleasure to finally be able to speak to you face to face… However, I'm afraid that we'll have to cut our first meeting short. Metarex! Show him the prisoners and then move out!" yelled the metarex.

A gang of smaller metarex swarmed the place and surrounded Sonic, but they made enough room for something to walk through. Metal legs walked in and Sonic couldn't believe his eyes. He was so shocked that he fell to his knees in terror and grief.

"Sonic, I am the metarex who did this and I am the new metarex leader. My name is Blue Sycamore. You shall end up the same way as your metal friends here," said Blue Sycamore pointing at the metal beings in front of Sonic.

"T-Tails… Amy… Why have you done this to my friends?! I'm really ticked off at you now! You do this in reality and I swear that I'll kill you!" Sonic screamed feeling an inner anger rising in his chest and he knew that something was trying to break through to his surface.

The things that were in front of him, were all of his friends, only they were evil and made out of metal. Tails and Amy stood next to each other. Sonic picked out all of his friends, but couldn't find Kaira among them for some reason.

"We're waiting for you Sonic," Blue Sycamore said before the dream faded.

Sonic awoke with a start and yelled angrily. He knew that his friends were already gone and would never approve of what he was going to do. He felt his rage rise up in him like never before and stood up on his bed. His fur turned black and he growled angrily. His hair spiked up, but he was glad it did. There was only one way to save them. He had to go Dark Sonic.

Dark Sonic burst out of the room in a huge rage and tried to get more mad so he could fly. Slowly he lifted off the ground and his jet black fur began to have waves of purple run over them. Dark Sonic could now fly.

Out of the Blue Typhoon he flew, but the longer he took, the madder he got and was soon flying as fast as sound. Finally, he found the manhole cover that was already destroyed and he barreled in. This time, His friends and metarex were all scattered throughout the base. When Sonic caught a glimpse of Blue Sycamore, his mission was laid out for him. Sonic could see the roboticizer, but how could he stop it?

"Blue Sycamore!" Dark Sonic yelled in a deeper voice than normal. He rocketed at the metarex leader and shoved him to the ground.

"Why Sonic, you got my message! I'm so glad!" Blue Sycamore said slyly.

"SONIC?!"cried all of Sonic's friends with surprise.

Dark Sonic saw Blue Sycamore wave his hand and all of Sonic's friends were caught! They struggled, but it was no use. Dark Sonic turned back around and noticed that instead of purple waves over his fur, bright red waves ran faster and faster through him. Madness like never before arose in him. Sonic could feel himself changing form again.

"Sonic, that's actually a good look for you. I've waited for the day to challenge you to a battle for a long time. Now, it's finally here. Let's start shall we? I win, you all get turned into robots. You win, you all go free. What do you say?" asked the leader with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"A duel huh? I accept. Hyper Dark Sonic never loses!" Dark Sonic screeched before being engulfed in red. He exploded into a giant white fireball and looked up at the leader with scarlet red eyes. The flame settled down to reveal a hedgehog with wild spiky hair the color of a deep bright red and the tips of his spikes had white on them. His shoes that were once to help him to remember, became nothing more than ashes and were replaced with jet black shoes with large spikes all over it. Hyper Dark Sonic grinned and huge fangs began to grow in his mouth. Fire still seemed to surround him and was seen clearly in his eyes.

"Impressive form! Although, it's time to put that form to the ultimate test. Metarex, back up," said the leader who sprang at Sonic without hesitation. He got out a giant sword and in the light under the mountain, he looked silver. Blue Sycamore slammed the sword down almost on Sonic, but Sonic dodged.

Hyper Dark Sonic was showing remarkable speed, but his speed was nothing compared to his attacks. Hyper Dark Sonic felt energy rise up within him and he shot it through his arms. Black spears were launched from him and they scraped against Blue Sycamore's armor. The dark chaos control spear. However, it barely left a mark. The metarex leader actually simply pushed them off.

"Not a bad attack. I'm enjoying this quite a lot in fact! Show me another!" Blue Sycamore taunted with interest.

"How about this?!" shouted Hyper Dark Sonic and he began spinning. A ring of fire appeared around him and Hyper Dark Sonic rocketed into the metarex, the darkfire spin attack, but even that did very little. Blue Sycamore forced him to the ground and laughed.

"Impressive! I like this form! It tickles," said the metarex.

A dark sword appeared from nowhere and Sonic grabbed it. Blue Sycamore tightened his grip on his sword, but still looked as if he were confident in his skills. They ran at each other full speed and slashed at each other.

"Not bad… That almost hurt…," said the metarex leader.

"Ow. Wanna fist fight?" asked Hyper Dark Sonic.

"Nah, we sword fight! Pick it up and fight like a good hedgehog should!" yelled Blue Sycamore with a hint of annoyance.

"Fine! I'll redraw my sword! Ready!?" demanded Hyper Dark Sonic.

Blue Sycamore nodded and the two of them charged at each other full speed with swords drawn. They slashed at each other and danced around. Their swords were slammed together and quickly brought back. Sonic jumped and thought about how to defeat Blue Sycamore. Suddenly, he came across something in his memory and tried frantically to remember what it was.

"Rabby knows how to deactivate them and Lily told us that they have a weak spot on their back. Don't worry Sonic! We'll be fine!" Sonic remembered Tails saying earlier that day.

Sonic sprang up and over Blue Sycamore's head and landed behind him. Before he could react, Sonic slammed into his back with a darkfire spin attack. It seemed to work, but Blue Sycamore instantly recovered from the blow.

"Ugh, I see that you remember the weakness of all metarex, but it won't work here though. I'm the leader! If I didn't survive that, then I would have disgraced the metarex. Now, to finish you…," said the large blue metarex walking up to Sonic with his dark sword.

Sonic jumped to his feet and readied his sword yet again. They slashed at each other with all their might, but they seemed to be equal in power. Sonic would jump and use a homing attack, but Blue Sycamore would only have him bounce off of his sword. The metarex leader would lunge towards Sonic, but he would run out of the way.

"We need to end this somehow!" snapped Hyper Dark Sonic.

"Indeed. How shall we do that?" asked Blue Sycamore who was starting to get bored and agitated.

"Look behind you," said Sonic with a smirk.

"What? My roboticizer! It's been taken apart! Let me guess, while we were fighting, your buddy Tails somehow escaped the metarex holding on to him and took it apart and now we must rebuild it?" asked Blue Sycamore.

"That's right! Now let us go!" yelled Tails angrily.

"NO! How could I have let my guard down so easily?!" he demanded with a strong anger rising in his voice.

"Looks like it's all over for your roboticizer because I recall Tails telling me that taking it apart like that makes it not work ever again!" Sonic chirped and turned back into his normal self.

"Those were the only parts that I had for a roboticizer! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT DEFEAT!" screamed the metarex leader in a rage. He grabbed his sword and raced at Sonic before Sonic could dodge. He slashed it down Sonic's arm and Sonic screamed in pain.

"Just to let you know, this sword will not inflict a wound on whomever it touches. It leaves them with a curse! A CURSE OF DEATH!" yelled Blue Sycamore. Then, he and his subjects fled and disappeared.

"Sonic? Sonic! SONIC! Say something!" shouted Tails desperately.

"W-who are y-you? I-I d-don't remember anything…," Sonic said weakly. He fell to the floor in pain.

"Sonic!" cried Amy running over to him and buried her face in his fur.

"H-help me…," Sonic said before passing out again.

"Sonic, wake up! Whatever you do Sonic, just don't die! Amy, Knuckles, help me take him back to the Blue Typhoon! Sonic, hang on!" Tails yelled at Sonic.

 **With Blue Sycamore…**

"Is it done?" asked Blue Sycamore to his wrist communicator.

"Yes, great job and Sonic's gonna die. You are my number one favorite person right now! All is going according to plan. All we have to do now is get that chaos emerald from Shadow and Rouge and Zaira. Why did she ever give him the chaos emerald?!" snapped a female voice.

"I don't know…," Blue Sycamore relied with a hint of amusement in his metallic voice. He sort of laughed and shook his head.

"Ugh. She's so stupid. I want the chaos emeralds and Shadow got his color emerald which is bad. However, the prophecy will not be true because Sonic will die. He was destined for a dark blue color emerald, but looks like now he won't get the chance. HA!" she yelled triumphantly.

"YES! VICTORY AT LAST!" yelled Blue Sycamore.

"VICTORY AT LAST!" echoed the metarex.

"Indeed. No failure now. This time, we'll win!"


	10. Sonic X Race of Doom Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **Secrets Revealed**

"Sonic, come on! Hang in there a little bit longer! Don't die!" Tails yelled at Sonic who was unconscious on a bed in front of Tails. A big nasty purple stripe ran down his arm where the sword had struck him, but Sonic was far too exhausted to know nor care.

"Sonic! If you give in I'll never see you again. Never. Fight Sonic! Fight it!" Amy shouted at Sonic.

"According to the X-rays, it is a curse. I can't detect any real wounds on him! He's not going to be living for much longer… Sonic, you are the most stupid, brainless, idiotic, hero in the world, but you still are the most heroic and the best hero in the universe. It was a pleasure to fight along beside you and maybe even a pleasure to fight against you… Sayonara Sonic the Hedgehog…," Knuckles said before leaving to check on the master emerald.

"I was able to get him the antidote for the bite and sting, but there is no cure to this curse…," sighed Tails sadly.

"Maybe Elise can use her magical kissing powers to revive him!" Amy tried.

Sonic screamed in terror and jumped out of the bed. He groaned in pain on the floor. Sonic was still all white and shaking from the impact of her words reaching his ears.

"N-no thanks. I'm not that desperate! I'd rather die again! Oh wait, Sonic 06 never happened…, but still, please don't call her to save my life! It was horrible last time!" cried Sonic in panic, but then he collapsed on the ground.

"Suppose that maybe Kaira could use a healing spell on him? She said that she could use magic. I bet that the magic could fight against the curse if it were strong enough," Amy said hopefully.

"Worth a shot I'll go get her," said Tails running off to get her without a minute to lose. However, he returned within two minutes.

"She's gone! There's no trace of her! I don't think that she was with us during the battle in the underground metarex base! I asked the metarex prisoners if they saw her, but they didn't see anyone like her," Tails replied.

"Speaking of which, how are they?" asked Amy.

"They're fine, but at the moment I'm more concerned about saving Sonic because without Sonic, it'd be a lot harder to save the universe and keep up this story without him," answered Tails.

"Good point! Did you check the security cameras for her?" demanded Amy with an irritated expression.

"I'm doing that now… WAIT! Who's that at the chaos emeralds?! Short hair, brown eyes, roundish and pointed wings?! I can't believe it! Kaira stole the chaos emeralds and fled!" yelled Tails in alarm from what the footage showed.

"Guys! Guys! The master emerald's gone!" screamed Knuckles in panic as he barreled in and nearly fell on Sonic.

"SHE STOLE IT!? Great! Now, we can't leave this place, the chaos emeralds are gone, and Sonic's gonna die! What next?!" demanded Tails.

Cream came rushing in all of the sudden. Cheese was following and they had urgent news. Cream looked up at Sonic and then at Tails. "Kaira's back!" she said in her high voice.

"Knuckles…, why don't you go…," Tails stopped and glared at the wall, "...welcome her…"

 **Meanwhile on Drolica,**

It was early in the morning, but Zaira was already up. Rouge and Shadow were still out. Zaira shook her head with annoyance and impatience. Rather than waiting, she walked off and hopped into a tree. A bird chirped at her and she blinked at it.

"I don't have time for birds! Actually…, what am I doing?" she asked herself and stared back the bird. It tweeted happily.

"What do you want? I can't exactly have a friendly conversation with you. I'm not in the mood for singing either," Zaira said to the bird. It shot back a sad look and sang a sweet little note.

"You want me to sing." Zaira looked at the bird and tried not to feel flattered at the fact that something wanted to listen to her.

"Okay, fine what song?" asked Zaira with another irritated look at the bird. It flapped its wings and started singing a pretty song. It took Zaira a second to recognize it.

"Well birdie, I'm impressed. You've managed to find a song in your brain that I really like. 'I Need a Hero' isn't a bad one." Zaira smiled at the bird at it chirped happily.

"I need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night. Oh, he's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and he's gotta be fresh from the fight. I need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light. Oh, he's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon and he's gotta be larger than life. Larger than life…," Zaira sang along with the bird's tweets.

"Zaira?"

Zaira froze and nearly fell out of the tree. Shadow. She shooed the bird away and stared at Shadow from the tree.

"Were you talking to a bird earlier and did you just sing a stupid romance song?" Shadow demanded with a disgusted look.

"...Yes…," whimpered Zaira pitifully.

"Idiot… Why didn't I kill you last night?" he asked himself.

Rouge by then was up, so they continued walking through the trees and Zaira was as annoying as ever.

"Shadow, you are like a leather jacket! Soooooooo cooool! How about Rouge…? Maybe… an elegant purple gown that is all shiny and stuff… Or… A BATH ROBE! That's perfect!" Zaira exclaimed.

"I think that I liked the gown better… It's not fair… She said that you would be a leather jacket!" Rouge sighed.

"Are you actually paying attention to her? I don't think that you would want to listen to her too much or she might start talking to you in your nightmares," Shadow replied.

"What? She's talking about clothes! It's another one of my weaknesses. Wait, did you dream about her last night causing you to bring up the whole talking to you in your nightmares thing?" Rouge asked him.

"...Yes… Anyways, to change the subject, don't tell me that you are going to take us all to the mall! I might say some mean things to you for it, but first I'd kill Zaira." Shadow snapped.

"Of course, shoes are important too… I don't know… Should I change the subject?" asked Zaira to Rouge and Shadow.

"... LISTEN! I thought that I told you a thousand times to shut up! I'll tell you the reason that you don't have any friends! You are the most annoying person in the universe and I don't want to see your face anymore! You've driven me too far and I can't keep this in any longer! I hate you and everyone else in the world does too! Why would they like a selfish, careless, annoying, irritating, stupid, ridiculous person like you! Just leave us and don't come back ever again because if I even see you once more, I swear that I'll kill you, crush you, and drown you! Maybe even burn your body if I'm in the mood! Just get out of my sight!" yelled Shadow storming off, but before he could successfully do that, Zaira grabbed his arm with remarkable strength and her bangs hung over her eyes.

"Is that what you think…? Okay, I get it… I'm supposed to walk away while you and Rouge go live happily ever after huh? Don't think that's gonna work Shadow," Zaira said in a deeper voice as if she suddenly grew three years older. Her hand seemed to start burning as she held on to Shadow.

"What-?" he started, but Zaira jerked her hand closer to herself and Shadow was dragged closer. He suddenly felt the feeling of dread and terror for the first time ever. Not the same kind of terror that he would get whenever Sonic wouldn't stop talking, but the kind of terror that said that he was going to die. Shadow shivered despite the fact that Zaira's hand was almost literally burning now…

"I have a question Shadow. If you knew about this, would you have been so nasty? I loath you when you insult me Shadow. I loath you with the fire of a million suns… Maybe even more… You don't know what it's like to be hated so much that everyone whom you turned to wouldn't even give you a chance. Sonic gave you a chance, Rouge gave you a chance, Dr. Eggman even gave you a chance, Molly gave you a chance, Maria gave you a chance, but who gave me the right kind of chance. You can't judge someone by how they look, but what's on the inside is what counts. Am I right Shadow?" she asked with a tone filled with envy.

"I didn't-" Shadow started, but Zaira interrupted again.

"Why Shadow? You have it all so good in your life… What do I have? NOTHING!" she yelled finally letting go of Shadow's arm. Shadow could see the heat drift from his arm and he couldn't suppress his shudder. Not while he was this frightened of what she would do.

"I'M SORRY! I had no idea that you were actually a monster or that you were going to kill me if I insulted you one more time!" Shadow said.

"Liar… You aren't sorry at all. I've seen the near future, but I can't see the far future. I've read your mind so many times that I know it like the back of my hand. You would only start insulting me again after a while. There's only a couple things that I can do that'll really affect you. Let's do my favorite… WE FIGHT!" she yelled charging at Shadow and slammed into his chest.

Shadow let out a yell in pain and fell to his knees. That one blow seemed to take everything out of him.

"HEY! Leave Shadow alone!" yelled Rouge who was only observing up until this point. She glared at Zaira.

"Aw… How nice… The bat wants to save her boyfriend! I refuse to let you interfere, but I do want to see Shadow's response. What do you think Shadow? She likes you and wants to save you. Is the jury in or out?" she asked suddenly sounding a little less mad from the one battle move on Shadow.

"Rouge…, is… that true?!" he demanded.

"It was the only reason I would _beg_ for help from that stupid Dr. Eggman!" she said in reply. After saying it she looked away.

"Rouge, you're the closest person I have to a friend. I'm not sure if I ever thought of our relationship that way, but…," his voice faded away.

"I hate to break up a good romantic scene, but we are also in the middle of a big dramatic fighting scene! If you don't mind,-" she snapped her fingers and Rouge was turned to stone.

"Huh. I should've seen that. It always happens. Well, in everything else other than this, but now it is. How do I reverse it?" asked Shadow who was finally recovering from the blow to his chest.

"I have to turn her back by my own free will. In order for me to do that, oh wait, I won't," Zaira replied.

"Go figure. Fine we'll fight, but you aren't going to like it!" Shadow snapped.

"Hmph! Oh please, ladies first!" she added and then they charged at each other.

Shadow jumped backwards when she aimed a kick at him, but instantly her wings allowed her to recover balance while still in the air. She glared down at her opponent and he glared back, but he took a step back in surprise when he realized that her eyes changed to his own and when that happened, he saw himself. It was like looking at a reflection, but someone else was your reflection. Time slowed and he could hear his heartbeat.

"Greetings Shadow," she said with his voice.

"How- Wait… You were the one who dragged me out of that pyramid temple thing weren't you? Imposter!" snapped Shadow.

"Now, where does that sound familiar?" asked Zaira thinking back to the Sonic X series. "Oh yeah, Sonic calls you his imposter. Right. Well, back to the fight.

They probably fought for another five minutes sending punches and kicks and insults back and forth at each other. It all ended with Zaira pinning down Shadow and smirking. Her eyes were a bright red and she looked ready to kill him right then and there, but some force stopped her. She sighed and let go of him. Shadow looked up at her and didn't know what to say to this.

"It's a shame… The plan, it'll be ruined if I did kill you… Okay, instead of killing you, I'll show you something. Although, you can't flee and you can't say anything about it to anyone," said Zaira. She looked as if she were casting a spell with her hands and it seemed to swallow up everyone. Then, it spat them back out onto the floor of a well made fortress.

"Where are we?" asked Rouge (who was no longer stone) standing up from the floor.

"Welcome to my home! It's only a metaltron base! Come on!" shouted Zaira impatiently.

"You are working for the metarex?!" demanded Shadow.

"No. I'm leading the metarex. I'm working with the metaltrons. Two completely different ball games. You however, I've been keeping an eye on. I never said anything about being on your side. In reality, I've been collecting data on you that may just help us take over the universe. Your chaos control powers for example. Teleportation, attacking, slowing down time, defence, time travel, and even more than that… You have it all Shadow. We want it…," Zaira explained while looking into Shadow eyes directly.

"Why did you bring us here?!" demanded Shadow.

"It had nothing to do with her. I couldn't possibly care less about Rouge. This is all about you… I want your chaos emerald and I wanted to steal your heart, but apparently Rouge beat me to it… I want it! Would you be so kind as to hand it to me?" asked Zaira holding her hand out.

"My heart or the chaos emerald?" asked Shadow.

"The emerald." Zaira glared at Shadow with annoyance and then smiled an evil smile. "You would always call me annoying, but now it's you who's being annoying!" she laughed.

"Shadow…?" asked Rouge and he only looked up at her with an unreadable expression. She'd never seen him like that. He gazed back down at his chaos emerald. It gleamed.

"I've never… Given up before… It feels wrong… I hate it, but surviving sounds great too… Rouge, what would you do?" he asked looking back at her.

"I have no clue…," Rouge replied.

"Give it to me, or the bat dies!" Zaira snapped.

"Nevermind," Shadow replied with a defiant look at Zaira.

Shadow slowly walked up to Zaira and held the chaos emerald for another second. After an awkward silence, he simply threw the emerald at her and she caught it easily. Shadow then backed away with a blank expression.

"Yes! Chaos emerald number six! Now I need the last emerald from the metarex! Thank you Shadow! You make me very happy, but I still hate you," said Zaira.

"Why do you hate him so much?! He didn't know anything! Don't you know how to bury the hatchet?" asked Rouge with confusion.

"That's not how things work here with us. We learn how to hold grudges rather than letting go of them, but since I was the best at it and had the greatest plans, I became the leader. I actually have one emotion stronger than my hate," Zaira said with a slightly sad face.

"That is?" asked Rouge.

"Envy. You ever wonder why my wings are green? It's because I'm green with envy! You know, I should just show you what I mean!" snapped Zaira casting another spell.

A few seconds later, Rouge, Shadow, and Zaira were standing in a place that was completely dark, but there were… voices…

"Welcome to my past. All dark at the moment, but you'll see something in a moment. Of course, you'll learn something that to me was completely ridiculous," said Zaira glaring ahead of her.

"Is she really the one from the prophesy? I heard that she'll have power beyond us all and will grant us either good fortune or bad fortune. Do you really think we should do this? Maybe we should just smash the egg and never have to worry about this ever again," said a voice from outside.

"NO! We can't. Let's just not tell her about it for now. About everything else, all we can do is wait and see," replied another voice.

"We saved her from the destruction of Draynia, but will that be enough to get her to listen to us?" asked the first voice anxiously.

"Don't worry! She'll be great. Hey! I think she's hatching!" exclaimed the 2nd voice.

The scene changed, this time further forward.

"Hey, look who it is! The walking green winged fleshy thing!" screamed a metaltron that was still in training to join the army of metaltrons.

"Oh please, just be quiet. I could say that I hate you because you're the most stupid ro-butt in history!" a younger Zaira snapped back.

"Well, at least I fit in with all the others! You'll never be able to say that about yourself! All you are is a stupid, mindless, misfit!" yelled the younger metaltron at her before storming off.

"Ouch! Those words must've hurt!" exclaimed Rouge.

Shadow remained silent.

"Stupid, mindless, misfit…," mumbled Zaira. "I'll show him one day…"

The scene changed once again to a later time and Shadow was half tempted to ask Rouge to talk for him. He couldn't possibly even think about talking at a time like this. All he did was look at the ground.

"All hail Zaira!" yelled a metaltron behind them.

"What?!" demanded a slightly older Zaira.

"Aren't you the one who destroyed the planet known as Draynia? I heard a rumor and I wanted to see if it was true or not," said the robotic being.

"Why would you even have the nerve to say something like that! Why would I?!" she demanded, but the metaltron suddenly lost interest in her.

""Well, if you didn't do it, then there's no point in at all liking you! You are in no way bad, but also in no way good. All you are is neutral, so how about we make up the fact of you destroying it just to give you a purpose in this world to keep you here!" it replied.

"That's all that they would ever do back then. Either comment on how useless I was or make fun of me and occasionally make up stories of me doing things that I'd never do! I envied them because they respected each other, but not me…," said modern Zaira.

"Zaira, we think that you could use some softening up!" said a metaltron. Its pals grinned and they all aimed punches at her. They didn't leave her alone 'till she had two black eyes and a broken collar bone. Zaira whimpered pathetically.

"You are only a disgrace to the metaltrons! How could you be destined for greatness?"

Then, a gal with short brown hair and bright pink wings appeared making friends with Sonic like it was nothing! She was the greatest respected person who's ever been among the metaltrons. It was clear to see that Zaira envied her the most.

Then there was when she became leader because she was so clever and had so much envy. She was always able to find a reason to envy anyone. It was crazy! She had been dumped, insulted, beaten up, laughed at, and made a fool out of more than once. She finally in one part just fell to her knees and vowed to make everyone in the universe think that she was the most amazing person in the galaxy. To do so, she made herself into the most evil person she could.

"If this is what it takes…, I'll destroy everything! EVERYTHING! I'll be the leader! I'll kill Sonic myself! I'll kill Kaira and destroy everything! Why, I don't even care about anything anymore!" yelled Zaira and a new side of her was born. One that only wanted revenge… Although, she then met… him.

"I met you Shadow and instantly fell in love because we could compare so much. I felt all of your pain Shadow… I felt everything… It was like reading the saddest book in history, but I wanted to read it for all of eternity! Your soul seemed to be falling apart, but you wouldn't let it and I admire strength like that. However, I still envy you because I wanted your power. I could only see you use it if I gave you the chaos emerald… Well, now I know that it's true. Everyone I know has left me at some point, but now, I'm ready to fight back. I just need the last chaos emerald and…," she said.

"And?" asked Shadow.

"Your power!" replied Zaira.

She flew far faster than Shadow could ever run or see and conked him and Rouge in the head. Everything went black…


	11. Sonic X Race of Doom Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 **The Misjudged**

"I'm back! Sorry I ran off, but I had important stuff to do elsewhere you see," Kaira said as she fluttered back onto the Blue Typhoon.

Knuckles came storming outside and threw a fist at her! She dodged and was naturally curious about what was up.

"Dude, why are you attacking?! I haven't done anything! HONEST!" Kaira said putting her hands in the air.

"Don't play that game with me! I know that it was you who stole the master emerald! Now give it back!" screamed Knuckles angrily and he charged after her again!

"Knuckles, I didn't steal anything! I was only out to see if my twin sister was up to anything unusual anywhere. I guess I was checking in the wrong place… She struck here by stealing the master emerald and the chaos emeralds," she replied. Knuckles still wasn't buying it however.

"EXCUSES! You are lying to me! We caught you on camera stealing it!" snapped Knuckles pointing at her.

"Long hair? Green eyes? A smirk on her face?" asked Kaira still looking calm.

"NO! Short brown hair, brown eyes, big roundish pointed wings! It was you! The voice, the fact that you knew where you were going, and your height! Now, Sonic's gonna die possibly because of you! Those emeralds could've saved his life! After your actions, we'll have to go heroless! That, and Amy will start dating Shadow simply because he looks like Sonic!" snapped Knuckles.

"SONIC'S GOING TO DIE?!" Kaira flew around Knuckles and into the Blue Typhoon. She zipped through the hallways 'till she found Sonic. He was back to being unconscious on a bed. The purple stripe on his arm was turning black and starting to spread.

"HEY! What are you doing here?! I don't think that Sonic wants to be visited by traitors! He's probably a minute closer to being dead because you flew in here!" snapped Tails.

"Put a sock in it Tails," Kaira replied.

"You'd better heal Sonic right now, so we can go save the universe from you and the metaltrons! Aren't you their best spy and agent?" asked Tails.

"Why would I work for those losers?! All they do is destroy lives and planets! If you could stop shouting at me, I might be able to figure out a cure for whatever this is!" snapped Kaira.

"There's no way I'm going to-"

"I thought I told you to zip it, so sorry about this! I'll literally have to zip your mouth shut just so I can concentrate!" yelled Kaira at Tails using a spell to use a magical zipper to shut his mouth. Tails only looked annoyed.

Kaira closed her eyes and focused on Sonic. It wasn't an ordinary curse… In fact the magic from the curse could've come from only one race…

"Sonic got that from a cursed sword right?" she asked.

Tails nodded, but continued squinting at her like she was just stalling to figure out the best way to kill Sonic faster

"Okay, that means that the curse can be reversed, but it will be the exact opposite of easy. Due to the sword being an object that people can touch and control, the fact that it caused the curse means that we can dispose of a curse of death by slashing Sonic's arm with the same sword. As long as the intentions are good, it should be removed and Sonic will be back to his awesome self and we can go back to saving everything. Any questions?" asked Kaira to Tails.

Tails raised his hand, but couldn't say anything. She had to unzip the magical zipper that she inflicted upon Tails's mouth. Tails gasped with annoyance.

"Yes?" asked Kaira with a hint of interest. She knew that Tails was going to make up something to prove that she was guilty.

"How do I know if you're trying not to trick me? In my perspective, I have no substantial evidence to prove you guilty or innocent, I also didn't believe in magic or curses until I met you and you proved your powers. What if the sword fails and simply chops Sonic arm off?! What'll we do then?! How will we get the sword? It belongs to a metarex leader for crying out loud! You can't just waltz in and take it! Metarex will be swarming the place! And-"

"Okay, okay, I get it! Sonic's gonna die anyway if the plan fails! I have invisibility powers too. Technically, I could simply waltz in and take the sword! Sonic only has an hour left of living, so this mission is all up to me…," said Kaira sharpening her focus.

Suddenly, Knuckles barges into the room!

"Okay Tails! How much has she confessed to so far?!" demanded Knuckles who was still burning with rage.

"Nothing," Tails replied.

"Well, maybe my fists can get some info out of you!" he yelled. Knuckles flung yet another fist at her while saying these words. Kaira dodged.

"The fact is that she has a plan to save Sonic…," Tails said slowly to Knuckles. He hated to admit that he might be taking advice from a traitor.

Knuckles looked taken aback. He glared at Kaira another moment and turned to Tails. "Oh really? What's her plan?! Kill Sonic, so I, the pretty little evil person, can take over everything with all the chaos emeralds and master emerald?!"

"Possibly, but I think that it would be better if you heard it from her. She could either save Sonic or kill him, but she intends to fulfill her mission on her own. Also, she's got to get it done within, um…, twenty eight minutes!"

"Then, don't tell me! Just get my rival back! Amy's going nuts! She almost jumped off the ship just so she could meet up with him in death or something!" exclaimed Knuckles running off.

"Oh gosh! Okay, Kaira, leave right now and get that sword! We're counting on you! If Amy causes suicide, we'll all be in turmoil! Now leave!" yelled Tails shoving Kaira out the door. She got the message and flew off.

"I know that you might be a traitor, but the reason I'm so angry and mad is because I am concerned for my best friend. Whoever harms him, or has something to do with him getting hurt makes me bring out emotions that I never knew I had. Although, even I have to be a strong captain and remain in control no matter what happens. I probably shouldn't be saying this, but good luck to you and may you return in time with that sword…," Tails murmured as he stared out a window after her.

Tails looked back over his shoulder at Sonic. He swore that he saw Sonic move. Turns out, Tails was correct. Sonic opened his eyes a crack and shot Tails a brief confident smile. It only lasted a second because Sonic immediately ran out of energy again. Sonic went back to a peaceful resting position.

"Sonic, if you can hear me, did that mean that you're glad that I'm giving her another chance? She could be a traitor!" cried Tails at Sonic.

There was a long silence a Tails finally just heaved a sigh. He returned Sonic's smile with his own.

"I get it. You don't think she is the one who stole the chaos emeralds. Who else could it be? Why would they want to frame Kaira? Wait…, the people who she was communicating with was the metaltrons! That means that they are both enemies. Kaira and whoever this is. It makes sense why they would frame her I guess. Now that I know why, what about the who?"

 **Meanwhile, with Kaira…**

"Where in the universe is that base?! The last time I was there, it was over there, but they must've moved again and maybe… No. They wouldn't have done that. Put their base in a black hole?! Actually, that would be very clever because only them can withstand that kind of power. Although, where would they find one of those?" Kaira asked herself.

She looked over to her right and saw a black hole looming in front of her. She rolled her eyes. Of course it was right there. There wasn't enough time for there to be a large dramatic search!

"Oh, how simple. Their base is, like, right in front of me. Fine! As long as it's for the sake of the plot, I'll do this the easy way, but I'd rather have the hard way myself! Okay, invisibility activate!"

Kaira was gone in a second and she drifted as close to the black hole as she dared. Sure enough, the base was right there. She flew inside as fast as possible because she feared that if she was out there any longer, she'd get sucked into the black hole and Sonic would die. Thankfully, none of that happened.

"Where are all the metarex? They're not here! No matter, I'll just get that sword and leave," said Kaira swiftly.

Up and down the hallways she ran, but no matter how hard she tried, Kaira couldn't find it. There was only fifteen minutes left and she was back where she started. No metarex and no sword.

"Alright, I'm going to go crazy if I don't find it! After all, it's probably in Blue Sycamore's special hideout or something! WAIT A SECOND! That's it! All I have to do is find that place on the ship! According to my calculation, it should be right below my feet! It's been there all this time?! Boy, I feel stupid!" she exclaimed while breaking through the floor. It was a dark place and she could barely see and a voice started speaking to her.

"Greetings. I see that you've finally found my hideout. Are you looking for this?" asked the voice.

The one who owned the voice held up a sword and Kaira gasped. The cursed blade. The metarex leader stepped out into the light and his armor gleamed silver. All the other metarex appeared out of nowhere and their eyes lit up with a red light. Blue Sycamore flung the sword to the ground and it shattered to pieces.

"Why'd you do that?! I still can fix it!" snapped Blue Sycamore.

"Watch and see," he replied with a mighty metallic voice.

A purple cloud arose from the blade and drifted in mid air. It slammed into Kaira and she fell to her knees and clutched her chest. It was cursing her.

"The curse locks on to the first life form it finds and curses it when its little vessel breaks. Now, you go back to the Blue Typhoon. You are too weak to battle all of us," said Blue Sycamore.

"Why… n-not kill… me now?" asked Kaira weakly.

"We'd rather watch you suffer!" Blue Sycamore threw her out of the base and she landed near the door. He was right, so she flew away with the rest of her energy being drained with each flap.

Once she arrived back at the ship, Tails ran out to greet her, but when he saw no sword and a big purple stripe running down her arms, he knew something was up. Knuckles ran out second.

"Whoa! What happened?!" demanded Knuckles.

"No time… I c-can… s-save Sonic…," Kaira said weakly.

Without arguing, the three of them made it to where Sonic was. He had one minute left and the black stripe on him almost completely covered his arm. Kaira looked at where the sword hit him. She inspected it closely and with her wing, slashed Sonic's arm as hard as she could.

"What are you doing?!" screamed Tails with bewilderment.

"I'm cursed… The sword is gone and I'm absorbing the curse in Sonic. Better I die rather… than Sonic," she replied. The black blob on Sonic's arms and legs disappeared and black swirls appeared on Kaira's wings.

"Sonic, your turn to play the hero!" Kaira shouted at him.

By now, Kaira's wings were completely black and purple and she collapsed on the ground, but Sonic was weakly opening his eyes and sat up looking around. His strength returned almost immediately.

"What happened?" asked Sonic who was clearly baffled.

"SONIC! YOU'RE BACK! However, Kaira might be gone… She saved your life," Tails said sadly.

"What'd she do?" asked Sonic.

"Here, let us explain…"

 **Meanwhile in the metaltron base…,**

"Ah…, the power of your chaos control… It's limitless… He hasn't even found his full potential yet… How exciting!" Zaira said looking at her data on Shadow. She put him through a complete data scan with all of her powers and technology. She wanted to know everything.

"The only thing that I don't know is his deepest, darkest, part of his past… That'll be what determines everything. How scarring is his backstory? Is his constantly being insulted or worse? I can't wait!" she exclaimed. Zaira cast her spell without hesitation.

She was aboard the Space Colony Ark and Shadow was running for dear life with a blonde gal. Maria. Zaira followed along behind and began to wonder what they were running from. She looked behind and saw a dozen government agents right on their tails. They were well armed.

"This must be before Shadow decided to fight against stuff, so he wasn't always mean all his life," Zaira remarked almost surprised.

"Quick! Get them before they escape!" the government agents would shout.

"Oh, man! They're running right to a dead end and we're in outer space! Talk about really big problem! Then again, the space colony is only so big!" yelled Zaira.

They were stuck and Maria locked the door behind them. That would hold them off for a minute, but not long.

"Just because they fear me getting out of control makes them think that they have to completely get rid of me?! This is ridiculous!" snapped Shadow.

"There is one way out," said Maria.

"Yeah, we go plummeting to or doom in outer space!" replied Shadow growing more and more irritated.

"Well, it's this!" Maria said shoving him into a capsule thing that was supposed to act as an escape mechanism. It had clear walls and wasn't soundproof.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" demanded Shadow with alarm.

"Listen Shadow, I want you to promise me! Please, for the people of that planet! Whatever happens, remember that I will always be your friend Shadow. We've always talked about going to visit the planet one day,, but it looks like you'll have to go there without me…," said Maria.

"NO! WAIT!" said Shadow.

The gun agent busted into the room and lifted his gun. He didn't look like he was going to go easy on her.

"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog…," she choked out and yanked a lever and he was sent off into space. It was over…

"No… MARIA!" he yelled and pounded his fist on the wall. Zaira almost thought she saw him cry, but he did a miraculous job of hiding it. The last thing he wanted to hear rang all throughout his mind. The gunshot.

"Wha-? Why did he like her so much? I barely know nothing!" exclaimed Zaira who was barely choked up from the dramatic vision. She cast another spell and was brought back further in time, but still wouldn't be seen.

Shadow was staring out of a window on Space Colony Ark down at planet Earth. He looked lost in thought. Maria walked up.

"Are you going to stare out that window all day Shadow?" she asked him with a fairly high voice. Zaira barely noticed that before. Zaira had a lower voice. Zaira could easily make herself sound like a boy if she tried.

"I've seen photographs from down on the surface, but I wonder what's it's like to be there. What is it like to see the sky above your head? I'd like to visit there and find out." Shadow never once looked over at her while saying this, but he couldn't try to be more sincere.

Maria looked over at him. "Me too…"

"Maybe I could find some answers down there. Professor Robotnik says that I'm here to do something important, but he never told me what that means, but something tells me that it's connected with that planet," Shadow said.

The vision disappeared and Zaira still was sort of clueless, but she could figure out why they had become friends.

"Shadow didn't exactly have anyone else he could grow close to, but Maria was nice enough for him and they shared the same dream of going down to the world below, but one never got to. He could talk to her about basically anything. His concerns about his purpose, his emotions, and his desires. Not many people get that privilege. Maria was very lucky," Zaira commented.

Shadow was then being revived by Dr. Eggman fifty years later and since it wasn't really important, Zaira skipped over that part. She came to a spot where Shadow was standing on top of a giant red bridge and remembering what had happened.

"Maria, I still remember what I promised you, for the people of this planet… I promise you… REVENGE!" Shadow shouted.

Then Shadow left and began destroying things galore! It was so amazing that all the destruction made Zaira look bad. She was all about thinking before acting, but this was all giant and violent rage she was seeing. Shadow fought Sonic, destroyed government robots, stole the chaos emeralds, landed Sonic in prison, and did it all without showing a hint of remorse. He also saved Rouge and Chris's life on Prison Island, but only because the situation reminded him of how he couldn't save Maria. In his perspective, he had to.

"WOW! Shadow was so loyal to Maria! It's amazing! I've never seen so much dedication to someone. It would be so romantic if he would show that much dedication to me! He would race up to me and smile! Oh wait, that's not in his personality… Besides, he'd never like me…" Zaira replied.

"Come back! Don't you understand that you're not the real Shadow?! All of your memories are just as unreal as you are!" yelled Rouge.

"Wait, what!?" asked Zaira. "Go back!"

She reversed and found Rouge in a giant room with a giant computer. Rouge was hacking. As usual.

"Fooling that old fool is too easy! Okay, let's start hacking. Maria, M-A-R-I-A. Let's see what pops up here. Come on. Come on! Ah, here we go! Project Shadow, Top Secret! Sounds exciting! The Ultimate Creature development project. Sure sounds juicy to me! Shadow?! Sealed off?! But how?! If that's true, then who's he?" demanded Rouge.

After going over it a few more minutes in awe, she contacted… other government agents? She also began downloading the data to a disc. She didn't plan on leaving anything out. However, she was rudely interrupted.

"Now don't you worry your pretty little head Topaz. I'm copying all the data as we speak," Rouge told her.

"Just be sure you get every bit of information. Don't leave anything behind Rouge. We need to know all we can," Topaz replied.

Rouge obtained the disc from the computer.

"I got it all honey, and there's plenty of it. Even that dope Eggman doesn't know the whole story, and it's quite a story!" exclaimed Rouge.

"You'd better hurry up and get out of there. Have you got the emeralds? We can analyze the data when you get back. After that, we can-"

Shadow ran up to her, smacked the communicator out of her hands, and stomped on it! It lay crushed in a pile of millions of pieces on the floor. Rouge stared defiantly at him.

"I suggest that you keep your hands off those chaos emeralds. We wouldn't want them to fall into the wrong hands now would we? _Agent Rouge._ " Shadow pointed out.

"Have you been spying on me? Aren't you the naughty little boy!" Rouge replied almost tauntingly.

"You've been a government spy all this time!" yelled Shadow at Rouge.

"Uh-huh! Now that I have my hands on this hot little disc here, I think I'll make my exit if you don't mind!" Rouge said.

"I do mind you phony!"

"That's pretty funny coming from you!" said Rouge.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Shadow not showing her that he was slightly interested in what she now knew.

"According to this, the body of the original creature was sealed off fifty years ago," Rouge answered holding up a sheet of paper with a picture of a capsule on it.

"Yes, that's right, but that was the prototype. I was the very first creature created after that one," Shadow replied becoming even more interested.

"Ah, but it says that there were two capsules ejected from the Ark when the facility was shut down. Apparently, neither of them were ever found and if those two capsules were never found, how did you manage to end up on Prison Island? I wonder! I have a feeling that neither of us is who we say we are," Rouge replied with a smirk on her face. Shadow only glared at her. Not a really mean one, but an annoyed one.

Shadow then got a call from Eggman. After the call, he began to walk off.

"Come back! Don't you understand you're not the real Shadow! Everything in your memory is just as unreal as you are!" shouted Rouge. Shadow finally stopped and turned around.

"If it is true that my memory is not my own, it is still all that I have. I will do what I must. I promised her…," Shadow said before walking off. Rouge crossed her arms at him.

"...WHAT?!" screamed Zaira.

She walked back and forth with a baffled expression. It didn't make sense. Shadow is not the real Shadow?! At least, not the first. Did all the other Shadows look the same as Shadow and have his personality? She had to keep going. His past was beginning to wrap up, but it got better.

"Hold on! There was an Eclipse Cannon?! How cool is that! He technically blew up half the moon!" Zaira exclaimed when she found out.

A video of Gerald Robotnik appeared on a screen. Zaira couldn't believe it! The Space Colony Ark was going to destroy everything! She was on the edge of her seat. Well, she would have been if she had one.

"Please Shadow, you can help save us all…," Chris said to him on the space colony when everyone else was off to stop the chaos emeralds. Shadow got a little surprised by his words Zaira could see.

"You believe that your whole purpose for being here is to get revenge, but think about it!" Chris took a few steps closer. "Back on Prison Island you decided to save me!" said Chris. Shadow only gave him his famous glare, but that wouldn't work here. Chris put his hands on Shadow's shoulders. "Deep down, you know you were made to help others and that's the reason you finally rescued me!"

"Hands off," Shadow said darkly and used one of his chaos powers to painfully (for Chris), but effectively, shove/fling Chris to the other end of the room.

Amy tried to help Chris, but another human stopped her.

"It's useless! I made a promise to Maria and I'm keeping it!" Shadow snapped defensively, but he knew that that would not stop Chris.

"Shadow, getting revenge won't bring Maria back…," Chris said.

"SO WHAT?!"

"There's still time to stop this Shadow! Please, you have to listen to me! How can you blame people alive today for things that happened fifty years ago?! CAN'T YOU SEE IT'S NOT FAIR!" yelled Chris who was back in Shadow's face.

"DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT FAIR! NOT AFTER WHAT HAPPENED HERE!" snapped Shadow. "Maria was my only friend, but your rulers sent soldiers to take her away from me! I tried to save her, but there were too many for me to stop… I never saw poor Maria again… Maria wasn't a threat to anyone! All she wanted was to visit your planet, but she never had the chance…," Shadow replied digging through his mind for all he could think of about Maria no matter how painful.

"Please listen, it's true that there are some bad people in the world, but most of them are good. I know that you'd agree with me if you only got to know them! Just like Maria wanted to! Shadow please, Maria would want you to be friends with people…," Chris weakly replied.

Shadow froze. He received a long lost memory of Maria telling him that she wanted him to promise her to help people and to be their friend. Zaira was more than into it. It was nearly life changing for her.

"I'm sure you'll be very happy down there Shadow… I only wish that I could go along with you… The world looks so beautiful from up here in space, but my grandfather says that the people who live there have to face many problems. That's why you were created, to help those people and to be their friend…," Maria said.

Shadow snapped back into reality. Chris collapsed right in front of him, but Shadow caught him. He looked unfocused, but he finally knew his purpose. In fact, he got so emotional, that he actually nearly cried. Zaira was feeling totally emotional as well.

"It's so sad! First, Shadow loses his only friend! Then, he wants revenge! Third, he fires the Eclipse Cannon! Forth, he's not the real Shadow, but was created while Gerald was in jail as a death machine! Last, Chris gives him the most convincing argument in the universe! It really is the saddest story all of history isn't it!? Oh, quit it! You're evil right! No, not right now I'm not!" she replied to herself with a cracking voice.

Sonic and Shadow were then battling against gravity to save the planet and stop the Space Colony Ark. Shadow knew that only chaos control would save them now.

"You ready?" he asked Sonic.

"You bet! Here we go!" yelled Super Sonic to Super Shadow.

"CHAOS!" screamed Super Shadow.

"CONTROL!" finished Super Sonic.

Using the power of chaos control, they pushed back the space colony, but Shadow had to remove his rings. Shadow let out all of his energy and exploded in a giant and massive ball of chaos control. He passed out and fell through the atmosphere of Earth. With no powers, he knew he wasn't going to survive this one.

"Maria, I did it, for you…"

Zaira stood there stunned at what she just saw. Shadow the Hedgehog gave his life for the entire planet and died! How is he alive now? What happened next! Was there any more than that, but then Shadow rose out of yet another capsule, but this was the one Eggman made and Shadow couldn't remember anything! She skipped over a lot of unimportant parts.

"Amnesia? Really? That's so cliche!" Zaira exclaimed.

She was transported right then to a bare and dull world where Shadow met… her. Molly. Something about her seemed familiar in a way. It wasn't exactly an important part,but she did notice that it gave Shadow sort of a wake up call about what happened in the past, but it didn't do much.

However, she disappeared and became the only one left in the resistance. (Although, the Japanese version said that the metarex killed her). Zaira stood up and shook her head when she saw this.

"NO! IT CAN'T BE SO! THOSE STUPID MONSTERS!" screamed Zaira.

More battles between Shadow and the metarex flew by, but then the end of the final battle showed up. Shadow punches Sonic to make sure he didn't get in the way, he removed his rings, and rocketed into chaos control and blew up (again) to keep the metarex leader then (Dark Oak) from making a planet explode and kill everybody. Zaira had to smack herself in the head.

"OF COURSE HE HAD TO MAKE EXPLODING A HOBBY! At least, Dr. Eggman re-revived him. I can't believe he had to put up with all of this and is still the way he is now. Shadow makes me look good! I've never had it as bad as him… It almost makes me not want to be evil anymore…," Zaira said slowly as she began to come back to the real world.

Zaira's eyes flashed red and she gripped her head fell to the ground. An evil voice ran through her mind.

"The plan! The plan! You are green with envy and when you are that, you don't respect others! Shadow is no better or worse than anyone else! Now, if you don't do as I tell you, I'll take over your mission!" screamed the voice.

"NO! Anything, but that! I'm evil! I swear! You can't be a villain without me anyway!" snapped Zaira.

"Yes, I can! Now, wake up Shadow, but have his mind erased, but I have a plan for Rouge however…"


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **The Color Emeralds**

"I need my mind taken off of all of this curse stuff! I think that I'll go meet the new people! Is it alright if I take a break from Kaira to go meet them?" asked Tails to Cream.

"Sure! Kaira's stable. So, go do what you wish! I'll let you know if there are any changes," answered Cream.

"Chao!" chirped Cheese in agreement.

Tails went to another part of the Blue Typhoon and wasn't sure what to expect due to him not sure of what they were like. He decided to bring Apple along with him so that he can at least know what to expect because of him. Apple took him to where his family was. And boy were there lots of people! There were many hedgehogs and two-tailed foxes. Apple rushed up to them.

"Guys, I can't believe that you're all okay! I've missed you so much!" exclaimed Tails to his siblings and other family members.

"BRO! I haven't seen you in a good long forever! Are you gonna introduce us to your new friends? If they saved us, then they must be pretty nice," said an orange two-tailed fox with red eyes and purple shoes. The tip of his tails were white.

"Sure!"

"Greetings. My name is Tails! I know that you've been on here for a while, but now I wish to welcome you aboard the Blue Typhoon. So, what do you think of the place? Do you like it here?" asked Tails.

"It is indeed a pleasant ship, but I have some recommendations on how to decorate!" said a bright pink hedgehog wearing a white dress. Her fur wasn't as pink as Rabby's, but still pink.

"Yeah, a little boring… What is there to do? Can I run around?" asked a light blue hedgehog. A lighter blue hedgehog than Sonic and with lime green shoes and golden eyes.

"Quit thinking about yourself for a change and focus! We are being welcomed at long last! I hate to have to correct you in public, but you are being rude! Now, apologize," said a neon yellow girl hedgehog shoving the light blue hedgehog forward.

"Sorry, my sister is a real know-it-all I know, but I'm apologizing on her behalf! She needs to really let loose sometimes and get her really big nose out of all of those books and into some sports!" the light blue hedgehog replied.

"That's not what I meant!" screamed the neon yellow hedgehog.

"That's enough! I'm disappointed in the both of you! I become the king of a planet and all of my many children lose their mother because of the metarex and then what happens?! They become spoiled brats and get whatever they want! You two especially!" snapped the golden hedgehog who was slightly taller than the two of them.

"It's fine. My friend Sonic isn't much better and he's still my BFF and Amy likes him just the same," Tails replied.

"Who's Amy?" asked two twin baby brothers at the same time. One was an adorable baby blue and the other was a scarlet red. Sort of like Knuckles only they were two-tailed foxes.

"OH MY GOSH! SONIC, YOU'RE ALIVE! I'M SO HAPPY AND NOW WE HAVE A BRIGHT FUTURE WHERE WE GET MARRIED, HAVE DATES, AND HAVE MANY CHILDREN!" screamed Amy hugging the light blue hedgehog from behind.

"That's Amy…," Tails replied.

"Nope! Not Sonic! Hugging the wrong guy! I'm not Sonic! You can let go any day now!" cried the light blue hedgehog.

"Huh? You look too much like him! How do I know if you're sincere?!" demanded Amy holding up her hammer.

"Um… First, look at my shoes. Aren't they different? Now look at my fur. Is his this light of a color? Finally, look at my eyes the same color as his? What about my voice? Isn't it slightly different?" asked the light blue hedgehog nervously.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen! What's your name?" asked Amy.

"I'm Runner the Hedgehog. Apple is my younger brother you see? Only he was able escape from the metarex because of his remarkable tails. We each have our own special abilities, but they were no use in that situation," Runner replied.

"So, what's your talent?" asked Amy curiously.

"My special power is running extremely fast! It makes me great at sports, but now there's a rule that I can't run faster than ten miles per hour! How mean is that?!" yelled Runner angrily.

"How fast can you run?" asked Amy.

"Just a smidge faster than sound," he replied.

"That-is-so-awesome! He really is almost exactly like Sonic! Sonic, come here!" shouted Amy. Sonic was there in a millisecond.

"Sonic, meet runner. Runner, meet Sonic. You guys must be twins!" exclaimed Amy.

"How fast do you run?"

"Sonic speed!

"Wow! How about we test that theory in a race!" said Sonic challengingly to his new friend and rival.

"Oh yeah, bring it on!" Runner replied. They then both ran off in one direction leaving Amy without one of her two Sonics. She charged after them.

"HEY! WAIT FOR ME! I THOUGHT THAT I WAS GETTING SOMEWHERE WITH RUNNER, BUT I GUESS I WAS WRONG!" screamed Amy.

The others watched her run off after the speedy hedgehogs and they finally looked back at each other. It was just too complicated for everyone now. There were too many foxes and hedgehogs. Tails shook his head.

"We're going to need name tags aren't we?" he said slowly.

"That's not a bad idea. I can't remember any of their names anymore. Well, we should introduce ourselves!" said the gold hedgehog.

"Indeed! We are, after all, very valuable allies to have! We each have different abilities. They could use'em!" said a red hedgehog and a darker blue fox at the same time. They were both wearing navy blue shoes and had yellow eyes. White zig-zagged stripes ran around their wrists.

"I guess they would," replied a jet black male hedgehog with completely black shoes and green eyes. He actually didn't look that much like Shadow if you were wondering.

"There are too many of us! I'll agree on that!" yelled an indigo hedgehog male hedgehog with red shoes.

"Chao!" cried a red, orange, and yellow chao that was floating next to the jet black hedgehog. It looked quite a bit like Cheese.

"He says that he agrees," said a light green female hedgehog. She had a pretty daisy in her hair and had on a light pink dress and white shoes. Her eyes were pink.

"You've already met Runner. I'm Pink the Fair who is his older sister. My special ability is decorating and organizing," said the pink female hedgehog.

"I'm Sunshine, but people usually call me by my nickname Sunny. My ability is being smart I guess," the neon yellow hedgehog said.

"Greetings, I'm Cosmic, Apple's cousin, and I happen to be good at astronomy. I know almost every planet, star, or galaxy by heart and I can be good for navigating the universe," the indigo hedgehog remarked.

"I could use that!" Tails exclaimed and he smiled.

"I'm Orange who is Apple's older brother. I am a great actor if I do say so myself!" Orange said with a clear confident expression.

"My name is Jack. I'll just tell you now that my middle name is Dasiy… I know… A very girly middle name, but I learn to live with it. I happen to be good at dancing and art," the jet black hedgehog said.

"We are the two twins of togetherness! The blue one he is B.T, and the red one here is R.T! We always stick together, and we never ever leave, but when a good friend needs it, we cheer to give them spirit! We always do things together, cause we are bros forever! Whenever you need our help, we'll do it like we would ourselves!" chanted B.T and R.T.

"We have no idea how they are always in sync with each other. It's like their minds are connected! By the way, I'm Daisy! I have the power to always understand what animals are saying. Just like Flamico here for instance. I know everything he says. His nickname is Fury," said the light green hedgehog pointing at the chao.

"Chao!" it replied happily.

"Fury says hi!" Daisy said happily.

"The two baby foxes are Baby Blue and Baby Sharp, but I think that we should start making it a habit of calling them Blue and Sharp," said Pink.

"I'll be sure to remember! I'll go tell all my other friends your names so that we don't have to go through introductions again. Now, let me guess your name… You're the father and a king which means… You're king Gold!" Tails exclaimed.

"I see that you've heard of me. I have the power of wisdom. It's a great quality to have in a king. Blue and Sharp both have different abilities unlike B.T and R.T. Blue can make anyone he chooses sad and Sharp can make his tails extremely Sharp! Hang on a second… Tails, you have two tails, so what's your special ability?" asked Gold.

"I can use my two tails to fly. I'm also an amazing mechanic. I build things from boats to spaceships. I actually made the Blue Typhoon with a little bit of help," Tails replied.

"He's a two-tailed fox, he has special abilities, and he looks so much like all of you other foxes! That can only mean one thing… You must be a part of the family! Same for Rabby! Sonic, I don't think so, but I have heard that in a specific series of Sonic he is a prince. An extremely rude prince, but a prince.

"WOW! Oh, by the way, this is Sonic X. Not Sonic Underground," Tails replied.

"Thank goodness! I thought that Sonic was a little taller, more mature, had a deeper voice, wasn't using slang, wasn't ogling over a chili dog, and was a ton more awesome than the Sonic in Sonic Underground," Gold replied.

"He wouldn't be my friend if he continued like that! Oh wait, I did become his friend in the Sonic SatAM series because of that… I sounded like an unsmart four-year-old!" Tails said getting agitated.

"Well, this is Sonic X! Let's drop the subject! So, what's been happening around here?" asked Gold.

"Um… That could be a bit difficult to do… Uh… Narrator, go catch up with someone else while I explain to them what's been happening. I think that it'll take me a while for me to tell them all this," Tails says to me.

 **Okay then! With Sonic…**

"I finished a millimeter before you did!" snapped Runner.

"Really? What evidence do you have?" asked Sonic with a smirk on his face.

"The narrator is on my side right? Please tell me that I am faster than Sonic!" Runner replied. Sonic had to roll his eyes. Actually, I agree with Sonic on this.

"What's your answer?"

Well, Sonic is supposed to be the main character of this because basically most of the story except for the parts that you don't know about revolve around him. He's saved more planets than you can think of and his name is in the title. It's Sonic X and not Runner X.

"Gee, thanks! I was only asking if I was faster than him," snapped Runner angrily.

"Well, I don't have all day to stand around! I want to do more exploring! I've been laying on a bed recovering for who knows how long! I want to really run! I mean, sound speed running! I can't do that on the Blue Typhoon," Sonic said. He sprang through a window and raced like the wind once he reached the ground.

Huh? Why is the sky red?" asked Sonic.

"Probably because the sun is setting. You should get inside because it might get really cold out there. You can race around tomorrow," said Runner.

"I- but- what? All I did was want to run around and the sun sets! This book must hate me!" whimpered Sonic.

"Who knows? Maybe you'll dream about it," Runner replied half happy that Sonic had to go through the torture of staying on the Blue Typhoon all night. If he couldn't be the fastest, he could be the rival of the fastest.

 **Meanwhile, Shadow and Rouge were just regaining conscious…**

"Shadow, what happened?" asked Rouge groggily standing up. She looked over and Shadow was barely awake. He looked exhausted for some reason. Like, someone had put him through all the Olympic events combined without a break. He stood up next to her.

"I have no idea… Although…, I had this dream… It was about… everything…," Shadow replied. He looked like he also had a headache that was trying to shake apart his head from the inside, but it was somehow holding together. Rouge wanted to do something, but couldn't think of anything that wouldn't make him uncomfortable.

"I think that we're still in the base, but I don't know how we can be. Zaira's gone," Rouge replied to Shadow.

"She is?" he asked, but his mind seemed elsewhere.

Zaira was somewhere else and was fighting back a dark force that was, well, herself. She had a split personality, so things were really complicated.

"I don't want to betray them again! Shadow is mad enough at me already!"

"Make him forget! I can choke you to the point of dying and then you will be forever Shadowless! Don't you dare make me kill you!"

"I-I won't…" she finally replied.

Shadow looked at the hallway and saw Zaira approaching. She looked hesitant… This was unlike her to be slow and unsure about something that she was doing. She stopped when she was close enough to Shadow that she could let him see her remorse in her eyes. He didn't even know why.

"I'm sorry, Shadow the Hedgehog… I want to tell you that I respect you…," Zaira said slowly. She lifted her hand and put Shadow into a bubble of stopped time that would only last for five minutes. Zaira then turned to Rouge.

"May I speak with you?" asked Zaira to Rouge. Rouge nodded and Zaira suddenly felt more hesitant.

"I've got a split personality. There's a good side and an evil side. At the moment, I'm on my good side because I don't want to do what my evil side tells me to, but her threats are growing harsh. If I don't, I may die… I want to tell you this, but I also need to do what she said. She wants me to erase his memory, but not yours. The reason of this is because when Shadow finds out about me again and that you always knew, he'll think that you betrayed him and that the truth that you tell him is only a lie. This is the last thing that I want to do!" Zaira explained.

"That's why you're so hesitant! So, if I don't keep my mouth shut about all of this, your evil side will kill me. Sounds like a plan for her, but what if she gets to you?" asked Rouge.

"I get completely removed from my body because the balance of both personalities gets out of balance. She's stronger than me, so I would be a goner," Zaira replied.

"That's horrible!" exclaimed Rouge.

"Oh man, the spell is ending! We'll finish this later, but I have to do this!" yelled Zaira.

"No, you don't!"

"YES, I DO!"

She cast the forgetting spell and a teleportation spell. They were teleported to Dr. Eggman's ship. Only Rouge and Zaira knew anything of what happened before.

"Where-? Who-? Wha-? What am I doing on Eggman's ship again?!" demanded Shadow when he could finally retrieve words.

Zaira motioned to Rouge about keeping her mouth shut by pretending to zip her lips closed. Rouge stood for a moment and nodded reluctantly.

"Didn't you use chaos control to get us here? Don't tell me that you've lost your memory again!" Rouge snapped at him.

Zaira smiled at Rouge and nodded at her. Sure they threatened each other all the time, but that didn't mean that they couldn't be friends right? Rouge was probably the first person to care about what she ever did which is all she ever wanted. To be liked by someone even if they half hated each other.

 **The next day with Sonic…**

"FINALLY! It's morning and it's so beautiful!" cried Sonic racing out the door and kissing the ground.

"Indeed! Welcome to our home planet!This is Greengate. It broke off from another planet several years ago, but that's the past and now it is beautiful and prosperous once again! I hope that you enjoy it!" Gold the hedgehog told everyone as they walked off the Blue Typhoon.

"THIS IS GREENGATE?! It's so beautiful! The last time I saw it, it was dead! Although, now I see that it's been restored!" exclaimed Cosmo happily.

"The reason for this is because the planet egg was stolen from this planet a long time ago, but four years ago, the planet egg was somehow returned to its home. We discovered it soon after and decided to make this beautiful world our home!" Pink answered.

"I can't believe it! Four years and it's almost back to its original glory!" Cosmo cried.

"Oh? My data scanner is picking up strange energy levels from the sky… Is it the truth telling atmosphere? Hang on…, they're meteors! There should be a meteor shower tonight, but these are no ordinary space rocks… Their power feels like chaos energy. If we had the chaos emeralds, we'd be able to see if they were chaos emeralds. They probably are, but they could be fake. Everyone who knows anything about chaos emeralds know that they are attracted to planets," Tails said looking at a piece of technology that only he knew how to use.

"That should be exciting! A meteor shower! Although, I do have some concerns," Jack said.

"Yeah? Like what?" asked Tails.

"Couldn't the meteor shower just be a way for the metarex or metaltrons that you keep talking about to get power? They are mysterious rocks with something like chaos power, so wouldn't they want to get their hands on them?" asked Jack.

"He could very well be right. They could go after them," Cosmic said.

"Don't worry! They won't get their hands on them as long as I'm around!" Runner said confidently.

"I would say that you were my hero sarcastically, but there's a truth-telling atmosphere. That'll be how I say it," Sunny replied with a smirk.

"Unfortunately, I can't go ha ha. Very funny," Runner snapped back.

"Guys! Enough fighting we need to pay attention to Tails! Since he's a captain, he should have a plan for all of us! Knowing him, it'll be a great plan too!" Daisy yelled at them.

"CHAO!" agreed Fury.

"Thank you, Daisy. Now, Tails, do you have a plan?" asked Gold.

"Sure! We get the stones before they do!" Tails replied.

"What about if they come here?" asked Jack curiously.

"We'll fight them off and if they are chaos emeralds, we'll use them as our power source for the Blue Typhoon.

"Metarex are going down! We will trash them all around! We're gonna fill them up with fear! The point is gonna be crystal clear!" chanted B.T and R.T together.

"How do they do that?" asked Tails curiously.

"Trust me. They don't know either," Pink replied.

Suddenly, there was a giant red object that was falling from the sky and it crashed onto the planet with a loud explosion! It was a spaceship! Three people-I mean, two reptiles and a bumble bee came out. Sonic recognized them instantly.

"This doesn't look like the place that we were told to go to. We were told that we had a case on Talinais. According to this sign, we are on Greengate," said a purple chameleon with gold eyes and a giant horn on his forehead. He also wore white gloves with a gray-black cuff sort of thing around both arms. He also had a curly tail.

"I knew that you were reading the map upside down Charmy!" snapped a green alligator at the bee. The alligator had sharp yellow spike running down his back and wore headphones. He was a lot bigger than the other two. He also wore black shoes and a gold chain around his neck.

"Well, excuse me! I wasn't taught how to read the stupid thing Vector! You should have told Espio to read it!" snapped the bee. He seemed a lot younger and had a higher voice than the other two. He wore some sort of air jacket and helmet along with white and black shoes. The bee wore white gloves as well.

"I was in the middle of my ninja training! I can't skip out on practice. It might save your lives in the future. You need to show more respect to me Charmy," the purple chameleon said cooly.

"OH REALLY?!" demanded the bee, but the alligator stepped between them.

"Quit bickering you guys! We need to find a way back on course, but how do we get off of this planet when our ship is broken!" demanded the alligator.

"I could help fix it! Again…, but how did you get here you guys?" asked Tails with a baffled expression.

"Yeah, why is the Team Chaotix here? Another detective case?" asked Sonic.

"Uh…, could you clue us in? We have no idea who they are," said Cosmic. The Team Chaotix nearly fainted.

"Oh man, they don't know who we are… What are we supposed to do about this? We are going to become the galaxy's greatest detectives, but how can we when we have people who don't pay attention to poor souls like us who are great, but will never be recognized?" asked Vector.

"I know who you are! Vector, the leader, Espio, the ninja, and Charmy, the one there just to irritate you!" said Sonic.

"HEY! I AM NOT IRRITATING!" snapped Charmy angrily.

"Er…, there to help! That's what I meant!" Sonic corrected.

"That's better! So, why are you here? Did you crash here too?" asked Charmy curiously. He rushed up to Sonic and really got in his face. Sonic backed up a bit.

"Yep. It's a long story. Welcome to Greengate! The planet of greenery and the truth-telling atmosphere. Enjoy!" said Sonic with a smirk.

"Truth-telling atmosphere huh? Curious. I've never experienced such a thing before. How did it get here?" asked Vector.

"Magic," Sonic replied.

"I've never found any scientific evidence for the existence of magic! How is this possible!" demanded Vector.

"Believe me Vector, I thought the same thing, but Kaira really proved me wrong," Tails replied with his arms crossed and looking at the ground.

"Interesting. Also, the name Greengate sounds strangely familiar…," Espio commented.

"That's because it's my home planet."

"It can't be… Is it-" Vector shook his head disbelievingly.

"How could it be Cosmo?! Didn't she die Vector? I think that they are stuffing our brains with lies! Let's fight them for lying to us! Nothing can stop us from finding the truth!" Charmy said getting into battle position.

"Cool it Charmy. This is all no trick. They are telling us the truth on the truth-telling atmosphere. The reason I know is because of all of my ninja training. I've become so aware of my surroundings, that I can detect abnormal disturbances around us that most people wouldn't feel. I felt the force of the magic around this planet. It is extremely high, and there's an inescapable force everywhere that connects to your brain so that you can't tell a lie. Whenever you try to, it only replaces that lie with truth whether if it is humiliating or not. Therefore, they can't be lying due to this fact," Espio explained to everyone.

"Impressive Espio! I'm going to start relying on you more! How are you alive Cosmo?! Didn't you sacrifice yourself to save the world?!" Vector demanded.

"Okay, Sonic found a seed that came from me before I was gone and he planted it. When it was fully grown, it was me. I came from a seed, so it made sense that I would return through one. After all, I am a plant," Cosmo answered.

"Remarkable! A seed saves the life of a plant and she comes back to life to her boyfriend! It's the most amazing love story ever!" wept Vector.

"I don't think that it was love Vector. I would think that if it was, they would have sent us invites to their wedding. Don't you think?" asked Espio.

"Espio has a point. They don't exactly look married and I don't see any rings on their ring fingers. It must have been the right growing conditions," Charmy told them.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! It was love! I'm certain of it!" snapped Vector at his teammates.

"It wasn't! We have no substantial evidence! If we don't have proof, the case isn't closed," Espio shot back.

"Listen to me, and listen well! I am your leader, and I am the one who makes all the decisions, so you don't have any authority to tell me what to do or what to think!" shouted Vector.

"That's got to do a lot of damage on Espio's argument because that is true! Vector is in charge! Let's see how Espio responds folks!" Charmy said sounding like an announcer in a fight.

"However, you must listen to your teammates! They may know more about something than you do, so when you listen, you get more information because you have more information when you have more than one brain!" Espio countered.

"WOW! Espio makes a comeback! It's gonna be tough for Vector to get back into the game now!" Charmy yelled over a microphone.

"ARE YOU SAYING THAT I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING?!" Vector shouted with anger.

"No! I'm saying that you each must learn from each other. Everyone has a different talent, so when people come together, you end up being better than before because you can do more with others than you can on your own," Espio explained calmly.

"Another powerful blow comes from Espio! Wait! Is this it?! Did Espio win?!" Charmy stood up and there was a long silence.

"I guess that you're right Espio. I apologize for what I said. I'll admit it. I don't know if it was love, but I do know that I have way more knowledge than you'll ever have!" Vector replied with a smirk on his face.

"I'd doubt it," Espio said crossing his arms.

"Is there gonna be another battle between them? The crowd is on the edge of their seats!" yelled Charmy.

"How about this. We call ourselves even for now?" asked Vector holding out his hand to Espio. Espio looked at his hand and took it. The deal was sealed.

"Very well. I much prefer us getting along rather than us bickering all the time," Espio replied.

"Well, that's it for our show today folks! Be sure to toon in next time on Arguing With Vector! This is Charmy Bee signing out!" yelled Charmy throwing the microphone to the ground after turning it off. He looked at the others. They gave him an annoyed look.

"Really? The last thing we needed was an announcer," Cosmic mumbled.

"What'd I do?" asked Charmy.

"Let's cut him some slack! At least they stopped fighting! That's good isn't it?" asked Sonic to everyone. They nodded.

"I'm starving! Does anyone know when we can eat? I heard that Cream makes an amazing strawberry shortcake! I could really go for one right now!" Pink exclaimed.

"Indeed. How long must we wait?" asked Jack.

"How about a picnic? I do enjoy a good picnic in a field of flowers!" Amy picked a flower and smelled it. She sighed happily from the amazing scent.

"Well, Kaira still is in some pretty bad shape. You could bring people who want to go on a picnic, but the people who don't will be staying here with me to monitor Kaira and guard the Blue Typhoon. Understood?" asked Tails to everyone.

"Yes, sir!" Runner replied.

They split up everyone into two groups. Amy, Pink, Rabby, Lily, Daisy, Sunny, Cosmo, Runner, and Apple were in the picnic group. Everyone else was left to stay at the Blue Typhoon. Everyone agreed, but Sonic wanted to go out on a run. Tails only agreed to this because he said that he had enough help already. Everyone then got busy.

"I got the food and drinks! Do you have the blankets Pink?" asked Amy. Pink got it out and lay it down on the ground.

"It is indeed a fine day isn't it? Where the sun is high and there're no worries. If only every day were like this. Wouldn't that be amazing?" asked Daisy.

"I wish, but I know that the metarex and metaltrons are still out there and we need to stop them. They destroyed my clan, and I may have stopped them once but I need to again! I only wonder who the leader is and where the leader is right now…," Cosmo mumbled.

 **Meanwhile…,**

"THIS IS DR. EGGMAN'S SHIP?! COOOOOL! Isn't he a scientist with a really high IQ and is really good at making robots?" asked Zaira curiously.

"Indeed. I don't know if his IQ is really that high, however. He fails every time he makes a plan," Rouge told her. Zaira nodded.

"Hey Rouge, I think that someone stole the chaos emerald," Shadow said with his arms crossed.

"Someone did? How would that be possible?" asked Rouge.

"I think that she took it," Shadow said glaring at Zaira. She flinched away from his eyes that were cold and unforgiving.

"How do you know?" asked Rouge. Zaira could tell that she was sticking up for her. They made an agreement to be friends but to also be enemies. That meant they would fight each other and stick with each other through thick and thin. An odd combination but it worked.

"The fact that she swiped it from me the first minute we met. I'll never forget that greedy look. Her eyes were like bottomless pits and begged me for it!" snapped Shadow.

"What else did you see?" asked Zaira.

"I don't think that I'll tell you!" he retorted.

"Okay, what do you see now?" Zaira really wanted to hear his answer. Would he feel different? Would he get a sense of fear from her? Would he see nothing in her? The suspense nearly killed her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could she Rouge mouth the words: The plan! Don't reveal too much! He can't be allowed to see your remorse!

Shadow studied her. She did seem different, but in what way? Was he feeling a force? Deep in her eyes, if he really looked, he'd see a hint of sadness, but he just assumed he imagined it. Confused? Love? Anger? Suddenly it hit him. Envy. He could see envy in her eyes. Why would she envy him if she had the chaos emerald, or was it something else? He couldn't precisely put his finger on it.

"Envy," he replied quietly.

"Why?" asked Zaira.

In his mind, thoughts were whirling around. He was confused. What happened to the annoying Zaira? When did she start giving me that bold look? Is there a part of her I didn't know about?

"Do you envy the emerald or my power?" asked Shadow.

Zaira didn't reply. She only gave him the cold shoulder. If Shadow didn't know better, he would have reached for her, but it was probably a trick he realized. He restrained himself.

"What happened?!" asked Rouge who was thoroughly baffled.

"It seems as though I've made a mistake," Shadow admitted. he crossed his arms.

"About the chaos emeralds?" asked Rouge.

"No. Zaira."

 **That evening…**

"Didn't Tails say that there were going to be shooting stars tonight?" asked Lily curiously. She glanced up at the orange and purple sky imagining what it would look like.

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that! He won't mind if we're a little bit late back to the Blue Typhoon I don't think! I mean really! What's more beautiful than watching a meteor shower in a field of flowers!" demanded Amy standing up and having a flashback of one that she saw three and a half years ago.

"Amy, don't you remember what Tails said?! He told us that the metarex or metaltrons might use the power from the shooting stars to their advantage! It could potentially put us in physical danger! It's not that I don't want to see them here, but it seems too risky! I don't want to get captured by them again!" Runner responded. He was having a flashback too. It was about being behind bars while being tortured. He gulped at the thought.

"Why would the metarex want a bunch of stupid rocks? In my opinion, they would only do such a thing to irritate us! Those things can't possibly have any 'magical powers' of any kind!" Amy retorted.

"I think that Runner has a point! What if they are? I don't even know how many they would send to get this power! I and Lily can't fight off an entire fleet!" Rabby pointed out.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK!" Amy snapped. She stormed off and left the rest of them.

"What a drama queen! Come on! If something does happen, we need to be together! Don't want Amy to be their new captive! Sonic would freak!" Runner announced to the group. Each of them scurried after Amy.

Apple looked up at the sky. He saw a green light fly by and it looked like it landed not too far from him. The others didn't seem to notice, so he ran off to find the meteorite. Within five minutes, he found it. It was a green gem that was the same color as his fur.

"That would pretty around my neck. I wonder if it could be turned into a necklace. Pink would love it! I think that it's meant to be mine," Apple whispered as he picked it up. He wasn't sure about why he was whispering. He just felt a force that made him think that he had to whisper. Did it have a special kind of power?

A few minutes later, it was a necklace and Apple wore it. He felt different when he put it on. More brave and courageous. To him, it felt amazing!

"Alright! I need to get back with the group!" Apple ran off for where they were and followed the trail of footsteps in the dirt and trampled grass. He soon caught up. Cosmo was trying to calm down Amy with Lily.

"Okay, we'll see the meteor shower! Whatever you do, don't hurt anybody! That's the last thing we need! As long as we're all together, we should be fine. You going to watch it here?" asked Cosmo.

Amy sighed. "You're right. I shouldn't have ran off, but you know how I get. Sure! I'll watch it right here, but only if you guys are here with me!" Amy smiled at them.

"Glad we got that settled! Now let's enjoy the show!" Runner replied sitting down on the grass. He fixed his eyes on the sky. Apple sat next to them.

"Hey! I think that it's starting! Look at that!" yelled Rabby.

"It's gorgeous! I could watch this for hours!" Daisy said gazing up at the flying lights in the night sky.

"WAIT?! WHAT'S THAT?!" cried Sunny.

"They're metarex! I knew that they would show up! Tails was right about the meteors having lots of power! It looks like it's trying to round them up!" exclaimed Rabby.

"Hang on! Meteors aren't usually that shiny! They don't glow in the dark either! Could it be?! Is the legend coming true?!" shouted Pink in amazement.

"The legend? Of course! Just because this story is fiction, that doesn't mean it always has to have a legend with it! This is so cliche!" Amy replies.

"We'll tell you about it later, but I think that we should do something rather than stand here talking about it," Daisy commented. She got into a battle position.

"She's right as usual. Everyone, prepare to attack!" shouted Runner. He shrank back when everyone glared at him. "What?"

"Who put you in charge? Honestly, Runner, I'd think that you would be a little bit more humble around these guys!" snapped Sunny.

"Oh, whatever! Fine! You all do what you want while I fight the metarex! See you later!" Runner snapped back as he charged the metarex from behind.

Suddenly, a darker blue blur rocketed past him and slammed into the metarex. It yelled in alarm. It was Sonic. He punched, kicked, and wrapped it up with a spin attack. The metarex sizzled on the ground and the emeralds it was going for flopped onto the ground. Runner was dumbfounded.

"How- Wai- Wha-?" was all Runner could say. He stood there with his mouth open. Sonic waved his finger the way he does when he's victorious. Runner was really mad at Sonic for that.

"You're too slow!" Sonic joked.

"You'll pay for that!" Runner finally said in response to Sonic hogging up his spotlight.

"That couldn't possibly have been the only one! If the metarex are after whatever these are, then there must be more than one!" exclaimed Sonic looking around.

"Hang on! The sky is clearing! I think that I see something!" yelled Runner. "Yes! It looks like- Oh snap…"

"What is it?" asked Sonic looking up at the sky.

The clouds cleared away and Sonic could see a large black and silver screen over the sky. At first Sonic wondered why someone would put a screen there, but once he looked closer, he could see that the screen was no screen. It was an entire metarex fleet that was rapidly approaching the planet. Blue Sycamore was leading them. Sonic shuddered. The last time he saw Blue Sycamore, he nearly died. The only thing that saved him was his massive rage. This was going to need more than rage and fighting skills to win.

"Quick! Get the emeralds and run to the underground tunnel! It's an abandoned metarex base, but it's the safest place we've got!" yelled Sonic.

"NO! We've got to go to the basement that only we know about at the bottom of Gold's basement!" yelled Runner in reply.

"He has a basement in a basement?!" demanded Sonic with disbelief.

"He's a wise hedgehog! Come on already!" snapped Runner angrily.

The group ran as fast as they could to the Blue Typhoon. The Blue Typhoon was invisible, but Sonic remembered how to get back and they climbed onto the ship with the emeralds. Tails had his hands full.

"The metarex are here! I knew there was something strange about those meteors! The metarex fleet is coming this way fast! They must be following the energy from the emeralds, The Blue Typhoon isn't going to stay invisible forever and the metarex will find us anyway! What do we do?!" yelled Tails.

"We're going to the basement in Gold's basement! It's the only place where we could be safe in a place like this!" yelled Sonic urgently.

"Why would Gold have a basement in his basement? Isn't that a little…,"

"I know. I said the same thing. Runner says not to question it, but now we need to get there! NOW!" shouted Sonic pushing Tails out of his chair.

"What about the Blue Typhoon?!" demanded Tails pulling Sonic's arm off of his.

"Which is more important?! Life or friends? Friends! Right! Let's go now!" Sonic yelled pulling on Tails's arm even harder and more stubbornly. The image of his last fight with Blue Sycamore flashed into his head. Sonic was petrified. He never again wanted to live through something like that. The curse that surged through his body sending pain off on a mission to eat away his life. He'd never felt anything like it.

"Sonic! Get a grip will you! What's wrong?" asked Tails curiously. He crossed his arms expecting for Sonic to answer with a logical explanation.

"I can't tell a lie… I fear Blue Sycamore… Ever since he got me with that cursed sword, I have been seeing him walking within my nightmares. The sword raised and ready to attack anyone who interferes with his plan. He kills everyone. While he does it, a red glow can be seen in his eye. The same one I saw during the battle. He would take over the universe, but would let me live. He'd only let me live to watch me suffer. The eternal suffering where no one may die. All they can do is remember how the past once was and how great your friends were, but nobody was going to save you. Nobody could because there was no being left alive," Sonic admitted with a shudder from the memory.

"Sonic… Do you suppose that that is what could happen in the future?! What would happen if we didn't save the day?! Sonic, your dream might have been an omen. A sign of what they would do if they gained control. They would kill us all, but let you live just to put you through an eternal torture because of what you did to them. Sonic, we need to get to that basement! You're right. We need to move and fast!" yelled Tails.

Tails ran off with Sonic and announced over the ship's speaker that everyone must report to Gold's basement's basement. Everyone scrambled out the door and bolted as fast as possible to Gold's house. It was rather hard to miss actually. His house was a giant castle and it stretched up to the stars as if it were hoping it could touch the heavens. Sonic's gang stared in wonderment.

"That's your house?! It's so fancy that a queen could live here!" Vector exclaimed.

"A queen does live here. At least, one did…" Gold stared at the ground remembering the wise, powerful, beautiful queen. Rainbowta was the greatest queen who could ever rule a planet.

"Flashback later! Run inside now!" cried Tails.

They nodded in agreement. Gold swiftly led them to the house, but Blue Sycamore dropped out of the sky in front of them. They all jumped back in shock.

Sonic's blood froze. The moonlight reflected his metal armor, and he looked majestically upon them. The blue hedgehog had to shrink away. The leader eyed him with amusement.

"Greetings. I see that you have run out of road. You either face me or them. Please, give me the emeralds. If you don't give them to me, I shall be forced to kill those who go against me. What do you say to that hedgehog? How are you still alive?" asked Blue Sycamore.

"Kaira removed it and now she is in danger all because of you!" Tails snapped back at the leader boldly.

"Kaira? Why, that's the best news I've heard yet! I'd much rather battle Sonic the coward. Kaira was an annoying brat! What about the emeralds? Will you hand them over willingly?" The leader stuck his hand out, but nobody moved. He retracted his hand.

"Is that how you respond? I shall give you one last chance to give me what I want, but you will be my prisoners," Blue Sycamore told them seriously.

"We'll never give you the emeralds!" yelled Pink defiantly.

"How sad… I thought that you were the ones with intelligence. Seems as if Sonic is the smartest one here. Cowering in a corner is he, but you all give me those eyes. The eyes that scream to me that you will go through even the worst of my tortures just to save the universe from me. You all resist, so I will have no choice but to obliterate you. What do you say?" asked Blue Sycamore.

"I don't care what you do to us, but we wouldn't give you the emeralds if you were the only one left in the world! We don't know what they are, but we know that they're important!" Cream retorted angrily.

"CHAO!" Cheese agreed.

"Oh my! A bunny rabbit and a flying pipsqueak is threatening me! Why would you do such a thing to one such as me! I too can't tell a lie, but if I could, I would tell you that I was shaking in my boots!" snapped Blue Sycamore.

"Hey! That's not nice!" cried Cream.

"Too bad! Metarex, destroy them all!" commanded the leader and all of them charged at the helpless gang.

"Nice knowing you…," Jack mumbled.

"Help me! Help me! Not safe you see! As far as the eye can see! Metarex are all around, but we are now the ones who'll be smashed to the ground," rhymed B.T and R.T.

"Time to finish you…," a metarex told them and a few others laughed like one who enjoyed beatings brought upon others would. They raised their weapons ready to attack.

"NO! Color emerald! Grant me your true potential to save us all!" shouted Lily holding up a purple stone. It began to glow in her hand! Her entire body seemed to change and Cosmo had to gasp. She could wield the power of the gem. Not only was it just that, but she wasn't quite hedgehog anymore. Now she was a plant like Cosmo.

"How do you control the power of anything that is a producer? Well, you call upon me!" snapped Lily as she used the plants to wrap the metarex up. They couldn't move. She waved her hand towards the building. They nodded and ran.

Once inside the basement's basement, Sonic looked at Gold and knew that he knew something about all of this.

"Alright Gold, what's going on here? I know that you know, but what are you hiding?" demanded Sonic pointing his finger at Gold.

Gold looked at the ground for a moment. He looked back up at them after a few seconds and sighed. "You deserve to know the truth. There's a prophecy. It's about these gems. It refers to them as 'color emeralds'," Gold replied.

"Could you tell it to us?" asked Amy leaning in close.

"Very well. It goes like this.

'When the danger of sixty years arises, the gems indeed shall too.

When the hero of wind and spirit comes, they will sense his feelings are true.

He and his friends shall face the one whom powers are starting to overcome.

Never will there be a greater night when the darkness falls to let in the light.

However, the words from our tongues may not be so.

All good may be lost to her powers it's shown.

When the color emeralds learn of such defeat, they'll lose their glow and will be beat.

Unless if the hero of wind prevails, the darkness will rule 'till the end of the tale

of life itself that we cherish so.

We may never see it for all we know.

The fourteen emeralds along with the gems of power great,

may save the worlds from such a fate.

This fight could go either way, but only the hero of wind will decide who wins on that day.'"

There was a long silence and all eyes turned to Sonic. He shook his head trying to take it all in, but he knew it was true. Nobody could tell a lie, so he was stuck facing the truth of Gold's words. How long will it take until the final confrontation with the one who has powers that are overcoming something? He wasn't sure what. Himself? Eggman? My couch? He thought about why prophecies had to be not so straightforward.

"What do we do now?" asked Sonic.

"We wait for Lily. If she is not to come, the darkness will rule until the end of the tale of life…,"


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 **Evil Finally Shows its Wingspan**

The gang probably waited all night before the fighting stopped. At dusk, they looked through a window and noticed that Lily was gone. The metarex were gone too. It was really odd because they didn't know who won. Also, why would the metarex and their metal bodies be gone?

"What?" Amy shook her head trying to believe what she was seeing, but she couldn't. She was thinking about whether if none of the metarex were destroyed and Lily was the only thing destroyed. It was a possibility.

Out of nowhere, a plant person punched through the window! They all yelled in alarm, but it turned out to be Lily.

"Cool off! I wasn't doing anything! I was just too excited to use the door!" Lily told them.

"What happened to the metarex?!" demanded Rabby hugging Lily.

"After I destroyed half their army in twenty minutes, they retreated. I spent the rest of the night cleaning up all of their bodies all over the place!" she replied.

"That's what all those fighting noises were that we were hearing! Where did you put them all?" asked Tails.

"Over there!" Lily pointed at a giant hole in the ground with all the disassembled robot parts in it. She dumped the leftover dust that Sonic got onto them, and they all melted.

"Effective way to dispose of them!" Tails remarked.

"Indeed! I also made sure that they didn't do a thing to the Blue Typhoon! It should still be working!" chirped Lily happily.

"That's great! We can all leave to battle the metarex and metaltrons!" Cream cheered.

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese said in agreement.

"Hey Sonic, isn't this good? Sonic? Sonic?! Where are you?!" demanded Tails searching around franticly. He only found a note on the ground.

'Sorry about your friend, but bring the emeralds. Only then will I let him go.

-Blue Sycamore

"He's got some nerve stealing Sonic like that! That's it! It's time we fight back! We'll break into their base and rescue Sonic!" yelled Tails.

"Um… one problem. We have absolutely no idea where they are. If we don't know where they are, we can't rescue him," Sunny replied.

"Ugh! If only Kaira were still awake! She'd be able to tell us where to go to reach them! However, she's cursed with a curse of death. Thankfully, she's extremely powerful, so she will survive, but it'll take half of forever for her to recover," Tails remembered.

"Did we leave her there?" asked Amy.

Long silence.

"What good friends we are…," Rabby said.

"Okay… what do we do now?"

 **Meanwhile,**

"Shadow! How and when did you get here?! Don't you know how to knock?!" demanded Dr. Eggman.

"I'm afraid that I've never heard of the concept. Will you explain it to me?" asked Shadow sacrastly.

"Ha ha. Hilarious. Sarcasm is the best thing ever. Who's that next to Rouge?" asked Eggman.

"Her? Oh, that's Zaira. She has lots of personality changes I've learned. Half the time she's annoying, the other half she spends staring off into space," Shadow replied.

"Sounds like you two have a lot in common. I won't be surprised if you start dating. Anyway, Shadow, I've-"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN DATING! THE TWO OF US ARE NOT IN- GAH! I can't even say the stupid words!" yelled Shadow with his fur glowing red.

"If you get this bent out of shape, then I'm certain that you'll start dating… Can I have a word with her?" asked Dr. Eggman.

"Go ahead! I'll be relieved if she starts tackling you!" snapped Shadow storming off.

"Look Zaira! Shadow likes you! He never gives me that much of a reaction," Rouge told Zaira trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah. He gets nervous. I've seen that little gleam in his eyes. He likes you," Zaira replied crossing her arms.

"It doesn't surprise me, but I think that he's only liking Rouge to shove out all thoughts of liking you," Eggman told her.

"You made him right? What you said, THAT was encouraging. What is it you want to speak to me about?" asked Zaira.

"You're not as annoying as he made you sound! Listen, I am turning Shadow into a super weapon. Otherwise, I'd be attacking Sonic at the moment. I've been hearing rumors that Sonic has been battling the metarex and these metaltrons on a planet called Greengate. Shadow has been there, and due to the three of you being such good pals, I guess, I was going to ask if you could go attack Sonic for me. If you see him or him and his pals in space, destroy them. You can do this when I'm done working on Shadow. So, What do you think?" asked Eggman to Zaira. She actually had to think a minute.

"I guess I could destroy Sonic for you, but what are you going to do to Shadow?" asked Zaira curiously.

"I'm going to boost up his power levels that can go further than any form Sonic's ever gotten. I'll only help Shadow realize his true potential! I might also be able to harness his power also if I put a little neural bypass switch in his brain. I'd be able to destroy cities! All I have to do is put him to sleep and work on him in the capsule," Eggman explained.

"Wait! Neural bypass switch?! Don't you dare think that I'm dumb! You're going to put a mind control device in his brain! Not only that, but then you'll use his power to destroy cities! The citizens will think that Shadow's doing it by his own free will and not you! I'm afraid I can't let you do such a thing!" Zaira snapped in reply and gave Eggman a glare.

"Ah! You are smarter than you look! Don't worry. I was only testing your knowledge. I'm going to use Shadow to defeat Sonic of course, but that plan is a secret. I'm not going to hurt him, but it will be successful this time! Nice talking with you!" Eggman said and then left.

"What's the plan?" asked Rouge knowing that Zaira was reading his mind.

"I don't know… I couldn't get directly into his thoughts. There was too much on his mind!" exclaimed Zaira.

"That's kind of funny considering he's a bald guy. He's got nothing on his mind!" joked Rouge.

"What do you suppose he's doing?" asked Zaira.

"I don't know, but it won't be good…"

 **Back with Shadow.**

He was standing in a hardly lit room. It was empty except for a capsule on one wall. He stood next to it trying to remember more. This was where he was first awoken. His first mission was made right here at this capsule. On Prison Island at where this capsule once lay, he was assigned to do something. Assigned to destroy the world. Shadow closed his eyes and lowered his head. Something in the doorway interrupted his thoughts. It was Zaira.

"What do you want?!" demanded Shadow.

Zaira didn't reply. She only walked up next to him. Her eyes were glued to the capsule as if it were a tourist attraction with real value to only her as it did to him. Although, how could it have value to her? She doesn't know anything about it.

"This is where it started… The whole thing…," she said.

"What?" asked Shadow.

"This is nothing ordinary. I know, and I feel this feeling of importance almost more than you do… Shadow… I know what this is…," she told him.

"How could you possibly know? You've never been here! You don't even know who I am. I should be the last person you want to remember, but why do you follow me around despite what I tell you?" Shadow asked.

"There's more to me than meets the eye."

Zaira knew he was still wondering about how she knew that this place was important. She would have to think up a lie. She hated to do it. It would really ruin the moment.

"So, how do you know?"

"Dr. Eggman told me… I didn't know until just now when he spoke to me," Zaira replied.

"Figures," Shadow turned his attention away from her and became lost in thought. If she didn't know anything about Shadow, she would've thought he was asleep. He was clearly lost in his past. It was something that becomes a pastime for him. To remember.

There was a long silence between them. Zaira wondered if she should read his mind, but it would be cruel to do that again. It would be like going freely into a restricted zone. Minds were sealed off to people for a reason. All she did was turn around and begin to leave. As she walked off, a vision flew through her head. It wasn't her's, but she knew that it was sent to her by someone. It was two seconds long.

The room was gone in a flash. It was replaced by a completely black surrounding. It felt like walking in a dream. Zaira couldn't have been not surprised by the sudden event. A voice spoke to her out of nowhere. She couldn't recognize it at all. Rough like gravel road, yet soothing like a bird's song.

"Who are you…?" it seemed to say. It faded in an instant.

"I-I… don't know…," she replied. It was true after all that she didn't know who she was. It's not like amnesia. It was more like not knowing what you really want anymore. Do you want to destroy the universe? Do you want to join the good side even if it puts your life in danger? Who was she before she was evil? What did she want? Did she want revenge or to be free?

Right as she said that, the vision disappeared. Who was the voice? Could it have been Shadow who sent her the message? He hadn't moved an inch. Had she spoken the words out loud? If she had, wouldn't Shadow be standing there with a baffled look on his face?

"Who are you…?" Shadow asked finally looking back at her.

 **With Dr. Eggman.**

He walked down the hallways and turned at the corner. He was looking for Shadow. His plan was evil and it would give him the power to beat Sonic. However, it would work if he could find him.

"Blast Shadow! Why do you have to be known for appearing without a reason and then disappearing without a trace?! I suppose that there's one place that I haven't checked…," he said to himself.

Eggman walked further down the hallway and noticed a door open. Once he reached it, he saw Shadow and Zaira standing there in silence. It was like a staring contest, but it didn't feel like it. The intensity was overwhelming. Shadow acknowledged his presence by swiftly glancing over then back at Zaira. They were both waiting for something.

"Are you not going to give me a straight answer? I already know that you are not an annoying brat on the inside! Why are you hiding yourself? Why are you making guess?! WHO ARE YOU?!" Shadow yelled at her.

Again she had no answer and Shadow finally faced Eggman and gave him a glare.

"Why are you here? I don't have any use for you unless if you can tell me who she really is," Shadow told him.

"I need to chat!" Eggman said putting his hands up.

"I'll talk when you tell me! Who is she?!" Shadow repeated.

"I might have an idea, but I can't tell you now. I might anger her. If she keeps one of the most important secrets in the universe from you, then she probably doesn't want you to know," Dr. Eggman replied.

"I have to wait?! I've spent my whole life trying to find answers, and nobody will give it to me straight! I can't take this anymore!" Shadow once again stormed out of the room. Dr. Eggman followed with a smirk on his face. It was done.

 **A really long ways away…,**

"You'd better let me go or else!" shouted Sonic at the jail guard who was a metarex. He'd just woken up from a deep sleep and appeared here somehow. He didn't know where he was, but he knew however, he was in trouble.

"I am strictly forbidden to release you Sonic the Hedgehog. I remember what happened last time. I shall not fail Blue Sycamore this time," the metarex replied to Sonic.

"Blue Sycamore! I should have known! I really want to rip out his memory and watch him go crazy because he can't remember nothing!" retorted Sonic.

The two of them sat/stood silently for another few moments. Sonic tried to remember what happened. He was walking out of the building with his friends when a metarex got to him. Everything was a blur after that. Sonic guessed that the metarex conked him in the head to keep him quiet. The story at least made sense to him.

"Where do we go from here?" questioned Sonic. He had to get every little piece of info. If he didn't, he wouldn't know what to expect.

"We destroy your friends," it replied coldly.

"Sheesh! Don't you guys ever take a break? I mean, it must get sort of repetitive. How about you let me go, I spice things up for you, and we all live happily ever after?" asked Sonic.

"Life doesn't work that way," said the guard with its bronze armor gleaming in the dimly lit room. Its red eyes lit up at him.

"Okay! Okay! I didn't say anything! I thought that the leader would kill me. Blue Sycamore was it?" asked Sonic acting if he wasn't sure.

"I know that you know of him, but you know nothing of her, She's the reason you've been having trouble lately. All these plans that we make up to get rid of you or your friends are hers. You don't stand a chance. None of us do… She is the one who'll kill you once you see the destruction of your precious universe. Nothing lasts forever. All she wants to do is end it all sooner!" snapped the metarex.

"My job is to use each second of my life to make sure that this doesn't happen! Wouldn't the destruction of the universe mean the destruction of you too?" asked Sonic.

The guard's eyes dimmed. Almost as if it were going pale. It had never thought of that before. It stared at the ground. Finally, it lit up again and looked at Sonic.

"How dare you challenge her tactics! For this you shall be punished!" it retorted. Sonic had to roll his eyes when he heard this.

Another metarex approached and glanced at the two of them. It shook its head. It walked up to the guard and they nodded in agreement about something.

"It seems that the plans have changed. You will be removed from the dungeons for now. What happens to you in the future depends on your actions. You could ruin everything for you. However, you could get out alive. This is going to be your test. To see if you really are the hero of wind and spirit."

"Yaaaaay…," Sonic whimpered for an answer.

He began to walk down the hallways. It was going to be a long time before he got out he knew, but once again, it was an 'if he gets out' sort of thing…

They soon let Sonic go, and he walked down the hallway wondering why they would do this. He came to a crossroad. Left, right, or forward should he go? He went left. After a few minutes of continuing left, he came to a room outside! How could he have made it out already?!

"What is this?! Let me guess, a test. What awaits me?" asked Sonic to himself as he proceeded. He walked towards the light. It suddenly occurred to him that he was in space and was stuck. It was a trap. He turned around and went down the right route. Hopefully he'd get out soon…

 **Once again with Shadow. Can I stop jumping around now?**

"Why hide?! Why do anything?! Why follow me?! What secret!?" yelled Shadow to his reflection in a mirror.

"Shadow?" asked Rouge walking up to him. "You okay? What happened?"

"Nothing happened… This should be none of your concern," Shadow replied finally regaining his cool.

"I don't think that nothing gets you worked up. Tell me the truth," Rouge told him.

"Fine… Zaira walked into the room that I was in. The one with the capsule. She was looking at it as if it actually had value to her. The same kind of value as to me. I demanded to know her purpose for being there, but she wouldn't tell me why… She wasn't annoying or anything… Only…, mysterious… I've never felt anything from her like this… It was as if she were scared to admit something. She was about to leave when a dark vision flew through my head. It was as if my brain were asking 'Who are you'? I could hear her reply. She said she didn't know. Once it was gone, there was a long silence between us. This goes back to that question. Who is she!?" Shadow yelled again at the window.

"Did anything else happen?" asked Rouge.

"Eggman came. I asked him if he knew. He knows everything about her. He won't tell me anything. I left. What do you think I should do?" asked Shadow giving Rouge another unreadable expression that she couldn't understand. Was it the first real expression of curiosity from him? If so, Rouge made the discovery of the century.

"You should re-talk to her about. Not now. Later. She'll tell you everything in time I'm sure, but pushing her to tell you will only make it worse. I suggest a day or so. That should be good," Rouge answered.

"I don't really have a choice… I don't get it. Nobody's ever gotten me like this. Not even Maria. I don't know what to think… You at least don't keep secrets from me. I know nothing about Zaira! Not as much as you anyway…," Shadow told her. He noticed that she was quite surprised from his words. Another discovery of the century. Shadow can be a nice guy with real emotions.

"I didn't- What are you saying?" asked Rouge looking into his eyes hopefully.

"I'm saying… I apologize. For everything that went wrong between us. Zaira has shown me one thing. You are lucky to have friends that really understand you. Not friends that don't. If they don't, things can get… you could say it's a living torture chamber that'll follow you around wherever you go," Shadow replied.

Shadow's sorry?! The third discovery of the century! How many of those will there be?!

"That's how you would describe Zaira?" she asked.

"No. Not anymore. Now, she's a living, breathing question mark!" Shadow exclaimed. He once again began to wonder about who she really was. Rouge broke his concentration.

"That makes sense, but I still think that you should talk to her. She's more than you might think Shadow. Maybe even something that'll get you interested," Rouge replied.

"Are you implying that I might have feelings for her?! You've got a lot of nerve!" he retorted bitterly. It was not something he wanted to discuss. They were the last two who would get together. Rouge shook her head. Shadow realized she was talking about friendship kind of relationship. Shadow relaxed a little.

"I was just saying that you might be interested by what you don't know about her. I'm not saying you should become a couple. That'd actually be very scary. Sort of like those ShadAmy fans!" Rouge replied.

"DON'T GET ME STARTED! Alright, I might take your advice under consideration. However, I do believe that something wrong is going on. She's either really interesting, or really evil. Maybe even both. The only way we'd ever become even friends is if she completely changed everything about her annoying self over night!" Shadow replied.

"You two can only be unfortunate acquaintances if you want. I was only making a suggestion!" Rouge defended.

"Yeah. Anyways, I've got one other thing to look into. Once I do that, we should be good to go. See you later."

Once again she was alone and looking out a window out at the endless sea of of stars. Something approached her. It wasn't happy…

 **Earlier.**

"Oh, do I have such power! It's amazing! I, Dr. Eggman, am controlling everything that Shadow says! I'm the greatest evil genius ever! I can do whatever I want! Having Shadow insult Zaira in front of Rouge is the best thing ever for a test! I know that they are friends, but he'd actually thank me for this. Whatever! I control Shadow!" Eggman laughed victoriously.

"So that's what happened… Are you still in the process of doing so?" asked a voice from behind him.

"What?! How'd you get in here?! I thought that I locked the door! Zaira! I thought it was you! What do you want?!" demanded Dr. Eggman.

"I want you to stop messing with Shadow. He's almost the most important thing in the world to me. Almost. Where are you keeping him hostage? He can't access his color emerald if you do this. That's even more powerful than the chaos emeralds. Also, if you don't release him, you'll have to fight me," Zaira said giving him a slightly sly look.

"Color emerald you say? Hmmm… Interesting! How do you know of such a thing?" he asked with interest.

"You know what I am. I need you to tell me who I am!" she yelled at him. He looked confused.

"Why do you need me to explain it to you? How could you not know? According to the research that I do in my spare time, you are extinct. Your kind is gone and you are the last. That is, unless if one other escaped the disaster," Eggman told her.

"Yes. Kaira. There are no more of us than me and her," Zaira replied. Eggman nodded.

"Sure. However, the main part is what the two of you were supposed to be. For you to be in your twenties already must've meant that you were still in an eggshell! The explosion occurred twenty years ago after all. You are the last of the most powerful race in the universe," said Dr. Eggman.

"I am? I don't feel like it anymore…"

"Of course you are! You are a Drayan!" he yelled at her.

Drayan? Thousands of things flocked into her head. Spellcasters, Attackers, and Defenders. Magic, monarchy, battles! Unicorns, nymphs, water sprites too. Not to mention, the dragons with the rage and fires that forever burn. The princes would vanquish them all if they could. The Drayan Empire practically invented all the stories with all the mythical creatures used in fiction stories today.

"There were three kinds. What kind they were depended on the wings. However, yours are a combination of all of them! That means two things. One, you are the most powerful out of all of them. Two, you are royalty," Eggman told her.

"Royalty?" she asked looking at her wings.

"What do you expect?! All princes and princesses have them! Only a few get the privilege of having wings like that!" Dr. Eggman said.

Oh my goodness… If that's true… Me and Kaira… We're twins," Zaira said looking down at her hands.

Zaira and Kaira were one of the same person. Split in two, and meant to be rulers. Their blood ran through each other's veins. It was tough to take in. She also heard that Kaira was in a terrible state due to her wanting to save Sonic.

"There! Now that you know the truth, go away!" snapped Eggman.

"Shadow."

"NEVER! If you don't I'll find a way to take over his color emerald!" he retorted.

"You can only do that if he loves you, and I seriously doubt that," Zaira told him.

"Interesting! Although, do you think that he would use it to save you?" asked Eggman knowing that Zaira would flinch.

Her heart froze. Would he? He doesn't even know. Who am I? His voice echoed through her head. 'Are you not going to give me a straight answer? Who are you?!' 'She's more like a living, breathing question mark.' 'I don't know what to think…'

"No," she admitted.

"Wha-? You think-? Actually, I get it. You try to have a conversation with him and he pushes you away. I can see that you love him, but he'll never love you," Eggman told her. He then handed the remote to her. The remote that controlled Shadow.

"Take it. You win. There are lots of other chances for me to take over Shadow. You make me sympathize for you too much… I have enough data anyway…" he walked off.

Zaira released Shadow from Eggman's control. She then went to find Rouge. She wasn't going to be happy.

"Zaira?" asked Rouge looking back fearfully at her.

"Hi Rouge. Have a nice chat?" she asked.

"I'm sorry! I didn't even mean to! I only wanted to help and it became- Ugh! Be sure to go easy on me!" Rouge pleaded.

"This remote was controlling Shadow. Dr. Eggman was the one doing it. You weren't talking to Shadow," Zaira told her with a smile.

"I'm relieved!"

"Now, I need to go find Tails. The metarex are holding Sonic prisoner. I only have to destroy the rest of his friends. They found some of the color emeralds…," said Zaira bitterly.

"Isn't that the Blue Typhoon over there?" asked Rouge.

 **Back with Tails,** they had finally made it to outer space. Within a few minutes, Tails detected something on his radar. It wasn't a metarex base however.

"Is that Dr. Eggman's ship?" asked Tails squinting at the ship.

"It sure seems so. Hold on… Why is Kaira over at that ship? Isn't she passed out on this one?" asked Espio.

"That's not Kaira…" Tails said slowly.

The other Drayan with black hair and emerald green wings flew out of the ship and smirked at them. A glowing ball of magic appeared in her hand. The ball grew into a portal and ate everything around them. It was pure chaos! Five minutes later, they were on land! Guess what they saw outside the ship. Humans.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 **Time Twist**

"Where are we? What are those?" asked Runner pointing out the window. He was pointing at a human who was super alarmed from the random spaceship that came out of nowhere. The human didn't move.

"How can this be possible?! Did that Drayan make us travel through dimensions?! I thought that was only possible with the power of the chaos emeralds!" Tails was astounded. There was more than one Drayan! She sure looked like the evil type.

"Hang on! Didn't a Drayan steal the chaos emeralds?! Is that how she did it?!" demanded Amy with anger towards her.

"I think you're right! Kaira was right when she said she was framed!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Knuckles, I need you to go check on Kaira. She should be getting better. She might be able to talk. Maybe she could tell us who she is!" Tails ordered. Knuckles was gone right as Tails finished his sentence.

"I hope she can explain some things. Also, I wonder how much time has passed… Is Chris still here and alive…?" asked Cosmo.

"We won't be able to tell until we look around Cosmo. I'm not sure… I hope he is…," Tails replied. He shook his head. Nothing could be certain. A year could have gone by. Maybe a day. Maybe even one hundred years… Nobody could tell.

"Can you look up how much time has gone by since the last time we were here?" asked Amy. The Blue Typhoon could do it in their dimension, but it might not work in this one. The new technology going into the new dimension could have destroyed it altogether. It could get fired up and do anything!

"I'll try, but there's no guarantees that it'll work. If it does, we got a lucky fluke. If not, too bad for us," Tails replied trying to fire it up. The screen flickered. After two seconds, it finally fired up.

"I installed a system that has voice activated controls. You can talk to it. Computer, I request access to the controls of the Blue Typhoon!" commanded Tails.

"Enter password," it replied.

Tails typed something into the computer. The main menu for the Blue Typhoon controls flashed up on the screen.

"Computer, look up the date when we left Earth and the date now on Earth," Tails told it.

"The year when you left Earth is 2007. The year you returned is 2067. Sixty years have gone by. Five years that go by for you is sixty for this world. I never knew that traveling here could be possible without tearing apart the very fabric of the universe. I guess that the writer didn't think of such a thing while this was in production, " the computer replied.

"Y-you mean… If Chris is still alive…, he'd be around seventy-eight years old?! The last we heard from him was when he was eighteen! Also, the last time we came, time almost stopped completely. We can stay here a little while, but the universe would more than likely get torn apart. This world is still pretty unbalanced from the last time we were here. We're getting off topic! Back to Chris! Am I right?!" yelled Tails at the screen angrily.

"Affirmative. You, Tails, have hit the nail on the head. I'm sorry about your friend. It's not like I can do anything, for I am only a mastermind computer with average intelligence. I have to go now. My circuits didn't get coffee on them themselves. I think that Jack was trying to toss it on Cosmic for busting his giant hair dryer. Also, Runner is watching something that will really interest you. I recommend the movie he's watching, but it is using up all my power. It's called, oh you'll find out," the computer replied in a monotone voice.

"MAN! Chris is probably gone! Runner's watching that movie again?! I love that movie… You're right. I should watch it with him. I'll fix you stupid computer later!" Tails yelled running off.

"Hey, computers have feelings too. I'm only a cold, hard, lifeless, emotionless, worthless, piece of junk. Who says that I don't have feelings? Wait. I think I'm crashing. All files are freezing. Help. Black is coming in from all sides. Tails, the blue death screen is coming. Save me. The pyramids are coming down. These are my last words and my will. Make sure to never throw out that toaster. It's the same one that I got to see Knuckles with while he was beating up Sonic with it in a unicorn outfit. He was trying to convince Sonic that it was a peach by eating it after whacking Sonic in the head. Afterwards, he tried to eat a car thinking it was himself. Don't throw that out either. Goodbye world. I promise that the Sonic characters will all die without me. This is true because I am Sonic's father's cousin's neighbor's fourth cousin's former college roommate's toaster's son. You know what that makes us, absolutely nothing. Oh wait, that's what I'm about to become. Nooooooooo…," finished the computer finally shutting down. Tails wasn't sure if it died by the coffee or the amount of junk in its brain.

"FINALLY!" screamed Tails.

Tails ran up to Runner and saw that he was holding a movie in his hands. It had a blue hedgehog on the front. Runner put the DVD in the DVD player. The screen instantly became awake.

"I love this movie! Sonic X The Race Of Doom is the best! It's a shame that we all couldn't be in it," Runner said while watching the Sonic run through the metarex base in search for the leader.

"I am having a serious feeling of déjà vu right now… Almost as if I've seen this before…," said Tails. He looked at the cover again.

"Hang on a second! Aren't we in the process of making this right now?! How are you watching it?! Is this even possible?!" demanded Tails.

"Huh? You mean we're in it! Cool! The movie actually came out a little while ago. People nowadays always release the movie before making it. Hey! There we are! We're talking to each other about how this awesome movie is in existence!" Runner exclaimed.

"Is it possible for us to move forward in the movie?" asked Tails.

"I guess we could. However, it would completely spoil the rest of this story! After all it's a matter of time before it is then!" explained Runner.

"Then? When's then? What's then?" asked Tails.

"I have no idea! I haven't finished the movie yet!" yelled Runner.

"Do you know about anything about the future?!" demanded Tails.

"No. I only know that something will happen then," Runner told his captain.

"When will then be now?!" screamed Tails becoming extremely aggravated by the whole situation.

"Soon," Runner replied calmly and waving his finger at Tails like Sonic does. Tails looked almost offended by it.

"Don't ever do that again," snapped Tails.

Knuckles finally returned. He was obviously successful in getting Kaira to be able to wake up and talk. Well, at least wake up at least. Either one or the other or both. Whichever it was, he was successful.

"I got Kaira to wake up! She wants to see you Tails! WOW! What are you watching? Am I explaining what is going on in that movie you are watching?! Cool!" Knuckles said with interest.

"Runner, turn it off before you spoil the whole thing for everyone! I'm going to talk to Kaira," Tails said before walking away from all the craziness.

"Awww… It was just starting to get good!" whimpered Runner taking out the DVD. Knuckles also looked upset. However, Knuckles isn't the important thing right now.

Tails finally reached the room where Kaira was and opened the door. She was looking a little better, but she wasn't quite completely better yet. Of course, Kaira was also half awake, but still better than completely out. Tails wondered if he could talk to her.

"Hey, you awake?" he asked.

"I'd think that you've known that right away… I sense something different about this place… How long was I asleep?" she questioned.

"You were out for about three days. A lot has happened. There are more crewmates now, and we are back in the human world," Tails explained.

"I can't be here too long… The presence of a Drayan in a fragile world could destroy this place in a month. If more than one, about two weeks. How did we get here?" she asked.

"Another Drayan with black hair and green wings took us here somehow. She used magic. Also, she was near Dr. Eggman's ship. Do you know her? Do you know that she escaped your planet with you? Should we be concerned?" Tails demanded.

"Darn it… Here name is Zaira… I do know her, but not as you see her… She's… my twin… Her life started in the metaltron base, so I knew she was going to be bad news. Sure enough, I was right… I'm guessing that Zaira snagged the chaos emeralds and blamed it on me to keep herself looking innocent. She can't be traveling alone. Not if she is around Eggman's ship. However, she wouldn't like traveling with him. There must be others whom she'd like. Who hangs around his ship a lot?" asked Kaira.

"Bocoe and Decoe used to, but who knows what happened to them. I think that Eggman is working on new slave bots. I don't know who else there could be! Shadow used to, but he died to save us from an exploding planet. Rouge only hangs around his ship for chaos emeralds. Amazing at double crossing people. I don't think that she wants an unreliable partner," Tails answered.

"You never know with her… Sonic got abducted? The metarex have been trying harder. I'll let you know if I get anything else. Consult with me if you have any issues. How about you give me a communication device? That'll help!" Kaira told her.

"Sure! Thanks for the help! So we avoid Zaira for the time being?" inquired Tails just to make sure of what he heard.

"Precisely… Can I get back to my nap…?" she asked drowsily.

"Sure. See you later!" Tails waved goodbye and left. He ran into Daisy and Fury outside. Fury smiled happily and hugged Tails. Daisy however, looked as if she had a question for Tails.

"What is it Daisy?" asked Tails.

"I thought that since it is safe to go outside, we could go look around. You know, meet our new neighbors," Daisy replied in her little shy voice.

"Uh, okay," Tails replied. He thought, 'Why not?' He then remembered the curse of thinking those words. Something will always go wrong.

Tails was able to get everyone to agree on going to explore a little. They each walked outside. Tails kept the communicator to call Kaira close at hand. Shockingly enough, they were shocked! Dr. Eggman's ship was right in front of them! On the ship was a green pair of wings. Her black hair being blown in the wind made her look only more hostile. A look of amusement flickered in her eyes when she saw the pathetic humans gathering around to observe the ships in wonderment.

"Just look at them… Everybody says that I look like a human, but just look at those baffled faces! I've never looked so baffled in my life. Makes me think of them as worthless ants! Actually, ants would be smarter. When they see something unexpected, they turn and hide. When a human sees something unexpected, they continue staring and approach it! How vacuous!" Zaira glared down at each one of them. The thought of crushing them did seem appealing, but who knows what would happen if she did that. She restrained herself.

"Is that her?" asked Cosmic pointing at her.

"It most certainly is. That's is Zaira. Kaira's twin sister. She's not the worst. She's beyond that. She's a Drayan that nobody wants to mess with. Why did she send us here?" asked Tails to himself as he stared up at her. Although, he then noticed something. It was black, it had red fur, and had rings on his wrists. Shadow.

"What? Shadow? Didn't he explode? How is he back again?" asked Tails to Amy.

"Dr. Eggman. He actually came onto the Blue Typhoon when you all were kidnapped to stop me from obliterating Sonic," Amy replied.

"Okay… I'm not even going to ask…," Tails said and anxiously moved an inch away from her. He hoped that she didn't notice. If she did, she made no action. Tails directed his attention back to Zaira.

"What in the-?! Am I-? How can-? Intriguing…," Shadow said slowly once he noticed where he was. He looked up at Zaira with interest. He knew it was her. He slowly approached.

"What do you suppose we do? I've never been here. I don't think we can get back with out a lot of power. Where do you think we are?" asked Zaira noticing that Shadow was walking up to her.

"You tell me. I know where we are. I also know that you know where we are!" Shadow replied.

"Wow. You expect me to know. How can it be possible for me to know everything? I can't. I'm only a Drayan after all!" Zaira replied. Once she spoke the words she instantly regretted it. She said too much. She also couldn't erase Shadow's memory again. That was a problem. Her other self boiled with rage within her. Zaira had to force her other self out of her memory temporarily.

"Drayan? Alright, you said the word. Give me answers for the first time ever," Shadow replied.

"I have to? FINE! Not here however. Meet me at the top of the skyscraper in the middle of Station Square. Be there at 4:30! Don't be late. If you'll excuse me, I've got to be alone if you don't mind!" Zaira snapped fluttering off.

Shadow didn't respond. He wasn't sure if he should go tearing after her demanding an explanation, simply stand there astonished, roll his eyes, ignore everything she said, or go investigate before meeting her on the skyscraper. He decided to ask Rouge to fly him up to the top of the skyscraper. He wasn't sure what she would do to him if he didn't show up. Rouge flew up to him to save him the trouble of going to find her.

"I saw Zaira talking to you. When she left, she looked mad! What happened?" asked Rouge to Shadow hoping for a reply.

"None of your concern. I only need you to fly me to the top of Station Squares' skyscraper in an hour. 4:30," Shadow told her. Rouge nodded. He began to leave. However, he caught a glimpse of Tails. Now was an appropriate time for him to roll his eyes. Tails was looking at him. No escaping Tails this time. He had to fight Tails once. If there was one thing that he knew about Tails from that experience, it was that he is a stubborn fox that doesn't quit for nothing.

"Shadow! I need to talk to you! It's about Zaira!" screamed Tails.

Now he was interested. If Tails knew about her, that would at least make the conversation worth it. He would go to anyone at this point for answers. Even his unfortunate "allies" that he had to help out in the past way more than he ever wanted. Tails ran up to him.

"I heard everything! I know someone who has all the answers! Everything about Zaira and who she really is! You will be surprised!" Tails told him hoping he would listen.

"Surprised nothing. Tell me," Shadow retorted.

"Well…, I think I'd be better if you met with her," Tails said wondering if it'd be a good idea. He said it though. He couldn't take it back.

"Do you mean with Zaira?" asked Shadow looking back at the spot she standing at a minute ago.

"No. I mean her twin sister."

Zaira was flying towards the skyscraper. The world wasn't all that different from Mobius she realized. The only thing different was the humans. There would be swarms of them everywhere. The thought of her being like them made her sick. Zaira decided to rest in a tree until four o'clock. At four-ten, she'd go to the top of the skyscraper. She had a good forty minutes. On her way to the skyscraper, she thought about what she would say. It would be difficult to lie at a time like this. Shadow's a mystery, but he isn't stupid.

"What do I tell him? Should I say the truth? Maybe lie and tell the truth at the same time?" asked Zaira. A voice within her replied.

"You will lie all the way through… We can't take more chances. You already told Rouge, but I let that go for now. She's not that important in this operation. You need to make up something good," her other self told Zaira.

"I can do that. However, I just hate to lie to Shadow. His eyes and story are more important to me than you realize. If I lie to him, he'd be extremely mad…," Zaira says.

"Who cares about feelings?! Just lie to him!"

"I won't do it! It'll hurt me too much!" snapped Zaira.

"Very well. I'll simply take you over! That'll make this job so much easier! _Spell that makes the matter of Zaira listen to me, for I will be a better soul than she. She doesn't know what is truly good because her life she never understood. Never resist to come back to me, for this will take her to her true destiny!_ " screamed her other self. The words of the spell were indeed effective. Before Zaira knew it, she was officially cut off from herself. It didn't hurt, but it was kind of weird. Every time she tried to do something on her own nothing would happen. Her other self was in control now. Zaira was basically a ghost.

"I'm in control of you now my dear girl! I hope you enjoy what I have been put through for too long. You were the only person I could ever talk to! You can only talk to me, but if you do, I'll silence you for eternity! By the way, my name is Vivilock," snapped the new Zaira. She flew away. The ghostly figure of the previous Zaira still remained.

"Great…," she said to herself. She was really annoyed, but the advantages of being a ghost was that she could glide around and float through walls without much of a problem. She could also not have to be involved with anything anymore. She decided to seek out Sonic's pals. She couldn't seek out Sonic. The metarex would easily detect her using heating sensors. She'd have to find Tails. Although he couldn't see her which would be a problem…

"Wait… Hasn't Shadow and I always had a weird connection? He was able to communicate with me through his brain once. It would be cool if she could talk to him. It would be like having telepathy! Telepathy between her and Shadow would be cool for her. Never ending contact with your boyfriend was simply what it was for her.

"I'll find you Shadow… You'll hear my true voice soon…," Zaira mumbled to herself. She glided away without even using any wing motions. Also, there was only ten minutes 'till the meeting.

Shadow of course at this time was at the Blue Typhoon. Kaira was reading a book with one leg on top of the other. She did look a lot better. She looked up as Tails entered the room. Shadow certainly surprised her.

"A black hedgehog? Don't tell me that the metarex cursed Sonic again! If so, I'm not getting rid of it this time!" she snapped.

"No! This is Shadow. He is the neutral guy. He has been traveling around with Zaira and needs to know who she really is!" Tails told her.

"You're Shadow? Wow. I never knew that Zaira had such good taste! I'm kidding of course, but he does look really cool. If I can gain more on his personality, I can tell you why she's following you around! Do you already know that?" asked Kaira.

"She likes me," Shadow replied.

"WHAT?!" demanded Tails.

"I thought so. The thing is, she's not telling you any truth at all! Has she said anything about being innocent, caring, not evil?" asked Kaira.

"No."

"No? What has she been telling you? Absolutely nothing or what? If she doesn't lie, does she tell you anything at all?" asked Kaira growing more serious.

"No. She is the one whom I can't figure out! How many times must I speak to her to get the truth? She promised to tell me everything on the skyscraper at Station Square. I don't think that she'll tell me the truth. I'm not even sure if I can trust you," Shadow said.

"You can trust me. I'm a Drayan after all. A powerful race where we come from. We managed to narrowly escape death on the day it was destroyed by those metalic monsters! Shadow, the only reason Zaira is alive right now is because she's been leading my enemies into battle for thirteen years. She's also leading the metarex. I don't think she was trying to kill Sonic most of all. She only wants me dead! That's the reason I'm in here," Kaira snapped clutching her fist at the memory.

"What? How's that even possible? When I first laid eyes on her, she was the most annoying brat in the world!" Shadow replied with disbelief.

"The Drayans as I said were powerful. We can tell each other apart from our wings. She has the combination of Spellcaster, Defender, and Attacker wings making her the most dangerous creature in the universe. Ever since I figured this out, I made it my number one goal to stop her. She doesn't care about anybody. That's why Sonic is in the hands of the metarex. Without help, he'll die in that base," Kaira answered.

"You're serious? I'm still not convinced!" Shadow retorted.

"Explain to me Shadow, what happened after the first day of her following you around?" asked Kaira.

"Her personality changed after a while… We ended up at Dr. Eggman's base for no reason somehow… Also the chaos emerald disappeared. Let me guess, she really did take it," Shadow said almost reluctantly.

"She has the chaos emerald!? That means she has all seven chaos emeralds! We've got to stop her!" she screamed while leaning out of the bed. Kaira then fell out of the bed because she leaned too far forward.

"Ow…," she mumbled from the floor. Tails helped her stand up.

"What'll she do with them?" asked Shadow.

"I don't know… She might try to rule the universe. That's something I can't foresee," Kaira replied with regret.

"Hang on. I once looked her right in the eyes. I mean really looked. She had envy written everywhere on her. I think that she would want to get her revenge on the universe. It just occurred to me that the fact that she is a Drayan could make it harder for her to fit in. The reason she liked me could have been because we could compare so much," said Shadow thoughtfully.

"That may very well be true. Even so, I still don't know. Bring us back info. You're meeting with her in ten minutes right?" asked Kaira finally recovering from her fall.

"Ten minutes?! I need to find Rouge!" yelled Shadow in alarm. He was going to cut it close for sure.

Sonic walked down the hallway. He wasn't sure what was going to happen. A tiny robot hopped out in front of him. Sonic thought about crushing it. It could be a bomb. Sonic simply kicked it out of the way.

"I don't have time for this. Metarex, just let me out," said Sonic. He continued on. Nothing was coming. Sonic shook his head. He was bored.

"Everybody's super sonic racing. Try to keep your feet right on the ground. When you're super sonic racing, there's no time to look around," Sonic sang to himself as he walked.

Sonic heard a tap. He looked around. When he didn't see anything, he got suspicious. Cautiously continuing down the hallway, Sonic began singing to himself again hoping to appear to not be paying attention.

"Hey all, welcome to the greatest storm. I know you have waited much too long. And I, I will be your shining star. I'm here, here to conquer near and far. Like the-"

 _Tap!_

"Uh… What comes up that must come down? Yet my feet don't touch the ground. See the world spinning upside down. A mighty crash without a sound. I can feel your every rage. Step aside, I'll turn the page. Breaking through your crazy maze. Like a-"

 _Tap! Tap! Clank!_

"In his world, where one is all. In his world, life's an open book. In his-"

 _Clank! Clank! Crash! Crash!_

At this time, the thing was right behind Sonic! He turned around in a flash. What he saw was horrible! It was furry! It had giant ears! Its eyes were the worst ever! It was… a tiny little bunny?

"NO! Not a rabbit! I know this is a test! I must get it away from me!" screamed Sonic. He flung the bunny down the hallway. It flopped on the floor. It gave Sonic the most adorable eyes it could. It was a trap! Sonic was getting lured right to it! However once he reached the bunny, he stomped on it! It sizzled with electricity. Sonic was broken from his trance. He knew that the rabbit wasn't the only thing down this hallway.

 _CRASH! CRASH!_

"AH! Blue Sycamore! How'd you get here?!" cried Sonic. He knew he sounded pathetic, but the sight of Blue Sycamore terrified him. The image of the curse flew through his head. Sonic shuddered. The giant metarex leader laughed at him.

"Oh Sonic, there were no tests! Those robots you met were my worthless ones that never succeeded to be threatening. The light was one of my leftover lamps. I'm the test! Now, we fight! This will be different than last time!" commanded Blue Sycamore.

"Alright then. There are no cursed swords for once right? If this battle is within that limit, I'll fight," said Sonic gaining a little more confidence.

"Of course, we must select the kind of combat," said Blue Sycamore.

"The kind of combat? I thought that a fight was a fight. It doesn't have to have a specific kind of combat does it?" asked Sonic.

"Of course it does! Magic, sword fighting, Olympic events! I happen to be great at most of those. Magic isn't really something I'm good at. I've been practicing, but it isn't very good yet. I am best at sword fighting which is what we are going to do," Blue Sycamore replied half boasting at his powers.

"You armor is impenetrable! I don't think this is a fair fight!" Sonic said knowing what the leader was going to say next.

"Precisely."

Right at those words, two blades appeared. Sonic snagged it before Blue Sycamore, but his opponent wasn't far behind. The swords clashed against each other sending sparks across the ground. Sonic would try to get behind Blue Sycamore to slash at his back, but the leader was too fast. They fought down the hallway with the swords. A light appeared down the hallway. The light was reflecting off of something metal. It was a giant fan that was spinning too fast for Sonic to run through and come out without getting chopped into tiny bits. Blue Sycamore laughed.

"You planned this! How are you going to escape?!" demanded Sonic angrily and sprinting s fast as possible to not get sucked into the the giant fan with razor sharp blades.

"I'm not. I'm going to watch you die! The fan's wind doesn't affect me. However, it will kill you!" replied the leader.

Sonic ran faster, but he knew that it was just a matter of time before he would get tired and get sliced and diced. There was nothing he could do. All he could do was run and hope.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **To Be a Ghost**

"You've never known what it's like. Floating around trying to communicate with someone is what you try to do, but who can hear you? All they can feel is a slight change of temperature. A chill runs down their spine making you regret touching them. Also, you can't stop your other self. Your boyfriend is stuck with the most dangerous person alive and you can't stop it. That's what I'm witnessing. Shadow going off to the skyscraper to be fed a bunch of lies."

Zaira was following close behind Shadow with the hope that he'd not listen to her evil self. She wanted him to know the true truth. If she could speak to him, she would. Being a ghost is harder than it seemed. She wasn't dead, yet she wasn't alive either. When you are removed from your body, you can't really be dead. All you can do is hover around and stalk people. This was a thing that only Drayans could do. Nothing else could. The other Drayans were really dead, so she was off on her own on the wrong side of reality.

Shadow mega-jumped to the top of the skyscraper. It took too long to try to find Rouge, so he went by himself Zaira guessed. She flew up through the building to save time. Once she reached the top, her other self was already there waiting.

"Well, you are certainly a very punctual hedgehog. I only wish that I could be able to observe that kind of behavior in you more," said Vivilock.

"Don't stall. Talk," Shadow said impatiently.

"Very well. I come from a race known as the Drayans. Very powerful for sure as you can see. We have powers beyond compare. I've beaten you before. You gave me the chaos emerald. I even took you to the base. I only erased your memory. You can't remember that, but you know who I am already," Vivilock replied smoothly.

"How'd you-"

"You talked with my twin. It makes sense that you'd know actually. Now I have all the chaos emeralds. They're all in this world with me! You can't stop me! My plan is too close to being finished! I just need those color emeralds to disappear!" snapped Vivilock slowly approaching.

"The color emeralds? You mean that black gem that is now within me? A part of me? I feel its power always, but how will you retrieve it?" he asked taking a step backward.

"You'll find out all in good time… After all my love, I do have a crush I you!" said Vivilock coming yet closer and closer with a look of pure evil.

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Shadow now on the edge of the skyscraper. The ground was a long way down…

"Because I tell you this, you have a color emerald. The reason I have you here is to…" She stopped for dramatic effect and looked straight into Shadow's eyes. She smirked. "...kill you," she finished in a whisper. Right as she said that, she shoved him off the roof of the building. 50 floors down was where the ground was.

Shadow was used to falling, but it seemed more alarming to get this from her. He couldn't fly from this high up, Zaira wasn't going to save him, and Rouge wasn't there. A million thoughts raced through his head per second. Each were about how she could possibly do that. Also, it was the fact that when he stared back into her eyes, he saw no envy. He only saw evil. The flames in her eyes engulfing anything that was in its way. He never saw flames before. He could literally feel it burning within him. He could only fall as he thought this.

 _Ker-pow!_

Shadow landed in the middle of the street and lay limp for a second. He finally got himself to move. Everything ached from the impact and his leg was clearly broken. He could survive flying through an atmosphere of a planet, but falling off a skyscraper and landing on a solid surface would put a number on anyone. Besides, he knew that the color emerald works better to defend him when he has his emotions straight. It would control how hard he hit the ground. His emotions were all over the place, so it didn't protect him as well as it should have. Shadow tried to stand up. When he put pressure on his leg, he winced from the extreme pain. He limped to a bench. Shadow had recovered from the shock of the fall, but not the shock of the push. Zaira never would hurt him! Would she?

"What happened to you?" he asked to himself looking up at the skyscraper hoping to get a sight of the rouge Drayan.

Almost in reply, he heard something say to his mind, " _I'm sorry Shadow the Hedgehog…"_

Zaira was staring out at Shadow leaning on the bench. She told him that she was sorry for what had happened. She knew he couldn't hear her, but she thought she saw him look up in her direction. She wasn't sure.

"At least, he's injured I suppose. I can still finish him off!" Vivilock snapped with a swift flap of her wings. She dove down at Shadow. He noticed, but couldn't move fast enough to dodge. Rouge dove into Vivilock.

"What's gotten into you?! You like Shadow. You told me!" Rouge scolded.

"That was a foolish mistake! I'll kill you for this!" Vivilock yelled at her and grabbed Rouge's neck.

"Vivilock, that's quite enough!" snapped Zaira hovering in front of Vivilock. She knew that Rouge and Shadow couldn't see her, but it didn't matter at that moment. Vivilock glared at her. She spoke to her with telepathy.

 _Why are you here?! You know I can't finish them off with you in the way! I'm looking like a complete idiot!_

"Complete idiot you may be, but you'll never be allowed to even think about touching my friends!" Zaira snapped back.

 _I don't have time for you!_

Vivilock shoved Zaira away somehow. A magical silence came upon Zaira. She couldn't speak. She heard Vivilock send her one last thought.

 _Let's see how you like what I've been put through for the last thirteen years!_

By that time, Rouge was already behind Vivilock. She gave her a kick in the head. Vivilock looked dazed for a moment with stars soaring around her head.

"Let's get back to Tails Shadow!" Rouge said quickly.

"Great… I've got a broken leg, crushed ribs, and a broken arm and I have to walk fast! How is this even going to be possible?" asked Shadow struggling to stand for the first time in his life. Not standing, but struggling to stand.

"Alright, I'll fly you there. Let's go!" Shadow was able to hang on to her back while she flew him back to the Blue Typhoon. Vivilock didn't follow. She didn't recover fast enough. Once she did, everyone was out of sight. Her gaze turned back to Zaira.

"You've ruined it for me! You are such an idiot! Now he knows and is so going to tell!" snapped Vivilock.

Zaira put her hands on her hips and looked skeptical. She was saying that everyone already knew. Vivilock hardly looked surprised.

"NOT THAT I'M EVIL! The color emeralds… They have four… Shadow has one! There's only nine more they need to get! If they find them all, I'll be doomed! Well, there's still no evidence that I'd be doomed even if they have them all, but the chances will take a beating…," Vivilock told her.

Right then, Vivilock got a call. It was from Blue Sycamore. Vivilock picked it up with expectation.

"Master Zaira, I have good news," the metarex leader said.

"You'd better! I don't exactly feel that great today…," Vivilock retorted bitterly.

"I wouldn't call if it weren't important. I just needed to ask if you wanted to show up for the sight of Sonic being destroyed by a giant fan." Blue Sycamore said.

"Ugh! I don't have the time! You can kill him if you want, but I have to get those color emeralds! Only Lily and Shadow have the color emeralds within them so far. I need to swipe the other color emeralds. I don't care if he dies, but keep him from getting his color emerald. Understood?" asked Vivilock.

"Understood."

Vivilock signed out and made her way towards the Blue Typhoon. Zaira was alarmed. She wasn't sure if she should go after Sonic or stop Vivilock? Sonic's health is much better than the color emeralds. Zaira flew towards the metarex base.

Sonic was still hanging on for dear life. The winds from the machine were actually working in reverse. They were trying to suck Sonic into it rather than blow him away. It was rather weird. Then again, the metarex themselves are weird. Everything they make is weird. If not weird, clever. It was sort of like a jet engine.

"Well, hedgehog, any last words?" asked the blue metarex leader.

"I CAN'T HOLD ON!" screamed Sonic.

"Precisely what I wanted to hear," Blue Sycamore answered him. He jumped upwards and a door in the wall opened for him. Sonic knew that it wouldn't work for him. It was only a matter of minutes before he'd have to let go.

"How fast is the fan going?" asked Blue Sycamore.

"Approximately 720 miles per hour," another metarex replied. Blue Sycamore shook his head. That hedgehog could never stop surprising him.

"That hedgehog is too amazing. There's no way to kill him! At least, there is now."

They watched with interest. Sonic finally let go! However, once he did that, the fan stopped! It was as if it was never turned on! Sonic flopped onto the ground panting from the torture of having to continuously hang onto the ledge in the ground just to not get sucked in. Blue Sycamore roared with outrage.

"What happened?! Why did the fan stop?!" demanded Blue Sycamore kicking a chair. It hit a poor metarex in the background. It whimpered in pain.

"Ow," the metarex in the background said.

"I have no idea sir! The fan just stopped for no reason I can't make it work for some reason! The controls simply aren't working! What do we do?! Sonic will escape if we don't do something!"snapped Blue Sycamore bounding his fist onto the board of controls for the machine. It sizzled with electricity. Smoke flooded from it.

"Wait a minute… Get the heat sensors!" yelled Blue Sycamore.

Zaira was the one behind the malfunctioning controls. Sonic busted down the door and raced into the room.

"Sonic, I can't deal with you right now. We have a ghost in here," Blue Sycamore told him. Sonic looked at him sideways.

"Great… First magic, now ghosts. What next?" he asked.

Zaira looked around in alarm. There was at least one way to identify a ghost. The chills that you get when you touch a ghost is terrifying for a reason. There was never a ghost before now, but everyone knows how to find a ghost.

"That's odd. The room is room temperature, but the control board is five degrees less… Now that we know where it is. How do we get rid of it?" asked Blue Sycamore. Sonic only shrugged.

To Zaira, it was rather hilarious to watch Sonic and Blue Sycamore work together to try to remove here from the control board, but they would fail each time. The enemy and hero work together to move a ghost. They're trying to remove something that doesn't physically exist. No matter what they did, they couldn't do it.

Zaira finally decided that she had destroyed the machine enough. She flew away like it was nothing. Blue Sycamore sighed and sat down in exasperation.

"Well, nice helping ya, but I've gotta leave. See ya later!" Sonic said with a swift wave of the hand. He left a millisecond after.

"Why does my life always have to be this complicated…," sighed Blue Sycamore almost in despair.

Sonic ran down the streets of the city looking around trying to pinpoint where he was. He ran past a human to his surprise. Sonic came screeching to a stop.

"Something tells me that I'm not on Mobius anymore…," Sonic said to himself still looking around.

There were humans everywhere he looked. It's been a long time since he'd last been there. Sonic jumped when someone said his name. He didn't know what year it was now, but he knew it was a lot later than in his world. This is why he was so surprised someone knew his name. A month in his world would be a year in this one. It's been years since he'd been there last. He did the math in his head. If he were gone for five years, that would mean that the equation to find out how long he was gone would be five times twelve (twelve is for the twelve months in a year). Five times twelve would be sixty. The year he left was 2007. The year was 2067 then! He had been gone for sixty years! Sonic nearly forgot that someone mentioned his name.

"Sonic? Is it really Sonic?! SONIC!" yelled the person.

Sonic turned around. He didn't recognize the person, but it was a comfort to see that he was still remembered.

"I told you grandpa and grandma weren't crazy! It's a blue hedgehog! That must be the Sonic they were talking about," a boy said pointing to Sonic. He was showing the other guys next to him.

"Nah. That's just a costume. Amazing hedgehog costume dude!" another guy said to Sonic. Sonic looked offended. It has been sixty years. It would make sense that people would think he was a regular person in a costume.

"It is Sonic! I guarantee it is!" cried the boy. He raced over to Sonic as soon as the other boys were gone.

"You are Sonic aren't you?" he asked to Sonic curiously. When Sonic nodded, the boy was beaming from ear to ear.

"I knew it wasn't a myth! Everyone else thinks so! They all say that Sonic the Hedgehog never existed, but here you are!" he exclaimed.

"Uh… I'm a myth? Am I so easily forgotten? That's kind of disappointing…," Sonic said in reply.

"Don't worry! I'm your biggest fan! Never mind… Your only fan…," the boy said looking at the ground.

"Well, popularity doesn't really matter to me at the moment! I have to find my friends! They're probably back at the Blue Typhoon. Of course, it would be great if I knew where it was!" exclaimed Sonic.

"The giant spacecraft that appeared out of nowhere? It was in all of the newspapers! The pictures on the newspaper specifically said and showed us all what happened. The newspaper changes everyday, so we all only need one copy to know the news for the rest of the year," the boy replied.

"Things have changed… Of course… Anyway, did you get the location?" asked Sonic.

"Right down that road," the boy replied.

"Thanks!" Sonic ran off to find the ship. He was at this point desperate to find something he knew. Everything was completely different. The roads were made out of a metal that acts as a magnet. The cars would also be made with a magnet, but they would be facing the wrong directions causing them to push against each other. This caused the cars to hover.

"I wish that Tails gave me a homing device for the Blue Typhoon. If I did, everything would be whole lot easier," said Sonic.

He ran around a corner to find himself face-to-face with the Blue Typhoon. Sonic smiled and hugged the giant machine. He had never been so happy to see the Blue Typhoon in his life.

"Sweet spaceship! Sweet spaceship! I love my sweet spaceship!" cried Sonic. He let go of the Blue Typhoon and went inside. He looked around to find everyone curiously not there. Sonic sped through the ship trying to find someone. He finally saw a fox tail disappear into a doorway in a haste. Sonic swiftly followed with great curiosity.

"Sonic! I thought you were with the metarex!" exclaimed the fox who was Orange the fox.

"Yeah, I'm back. I nearly died! What's going on?!" demanded Sonic. He crossed his arms expectantly.

"Shadow and Rouge are back!" exclaimed Orange once again moving in a large haste down the hallway.

"Wait! What do you mean Shadow and Rouge?! I didn't know they had anything to do with anything! Hang on a second!" yelled Sonic running after him.

Sonic and Orange scurried into a room with everyone else in it trying to hear what happened. Sonic tried to push through the crowd, but couldn't.

"Shadow?! What happened?! You look beat up!" exclaimed Tails in alarm. He tried to help Shadow, but the dark hedgehog only pushed him away. Rouge was flying next to Shadow as he limped over to Tails.

"That amazing, double crossing, backstabber attacked me. She threw me off a building. Broke my arm, leg, and a couple ribs I think. I'll be fine though. I've felt worse," Shadow explained.

"Ouch. How does a hedgehog like you get those kinds of injuries from falling off a building. Sonic can survive falling through the atmosphere of a planet and crash on his head on the ground!" Amy said.

"His color emerald is what determines how strong the outcome of something. The color emerald draws most of its power by emotions and feelings. Shadow's feelings were all messed up, so he had a stronger impact on the ground than normal," Rouge said.

"Of course! The reason those metarex were so easy for me to defeat was because of my emotions. I felt that I had to destroy them all and that I had to bring them to justice. This is why I transformed into my other form and had so much power," Lily said.

"We all must get those color emeralds. They will determine the final battle. They should be in the ship somewhere," said Tails looking back at the Blue Typhoon.

"They won't be there!" Shadow told them. He winced from the pain in his chest from talking. Shadow clutched his chest in pain.

"They're not?" asked Tails.

"Rouge…," said Shadow unable to speak due to his pain. Rouge nodded.

"Zaira said that she needed to get the color emeralds and came flying here automatically. She will probably have them by now," Rouge told them.

"Great… This is a time where I really wish Sonic were here," said Tails looking at the ground.

"Have no fear! Your hero is here!" shouted a voice from behind everyone. Sonic strutted out in front of everyone. They all gasped in delight.

"Sonic! I thought that you were with the metarex!" exclaimed Tails.

"I was. I nearly died over there! They tried to kill me with a giant fan-like thing That would have sucked me into it!" Sonic replied.

"We're sorry that we didn't come to rescue you Sonic, but Shadow came along and told us everything! However, it looks like things are turning out bad for us right now…," Tails sighed.

"Don't worry Tails! We'll just go find all of those color emeralds again! If the legend is true, then the color emeralds should be around on this planet somewhere. Most of us should get a color emerald, so I think that the force from the emeralds will draw us to them," Sonic explained.

Everyone though over Sonic's plan for a minute. Eventually, Apple lifted his head and said he would do it. All the others agreed as well. Sonic smiled happily.

"Well, let's stop wasting time already! Hey Shadow, do you think you'll really be alright?" asked Sonic looking over at Shadow.

Shadow glanced up at him and looked at Rouge again. She nodded.

"Shadow's probably going to need some time to recover. With Dr. Eggman's help, he should be all fixed up in a day," Rouge answered. Shadow nodded approvingly as if she read his mind.

"Okay. Everyone, we'll search tomorrow. It's getting late. Everyone, be up at six a.m. We each will be searching in a different part of this planet. This is why we each must be at our full strength," Sonic said and raced into the Blue Typhoon. The others followed soon to be asleep with dreams of the color emeralds.

Zaira had experienced everything that had happened. Her heart seemed to melt whenever she saw or thought about Shadow in the condition he was in. Vivilock had done more than Zaira expected. She drifted into Dr. Eggman's base. It was about ten p.m, so body was awake. She glided into the room with the capsule. Shadow was recovering within it.

 _I didn't mean to… It wasn't even me…_

She turned around when she heard the door open. Zaira wasn't surprised to see it was Rouge. One of the few people who is nocturnal.

"I never knew about this until now. I swear!" Rouge said.

Shadow opened his eyes for a second and glanced over. He already knew that Rouge had nothing to do with anything.

"I don't know anything anymore…," Shadow said. Everything was all mixed up in his head. Shadow tried to remember everything, but his brain couldn't it seemed.

"I know that feeling all too well. Zaira is just driving us all insane. I have no idea what happened to the girl who feared her other half, but… Hang on! Zaira said that she was being terrorized by a half of herself that she couldn't control? That would explain a lot. It might not even be her doing!" Rouge realized. Shadow still felt too weak to really care.

"I suppose. What real evidence to you have to prove such a statement? If you don't have that, she still might be in control. She could also have lied to the two of us the whole time. She never liked me. I never liked her. That's what everything is for me. A world of isolation…," Shadow said coldly.

"You've never truly been alone. I've always been here," Rouge said.

"You've never felt my pain!" snapped Shadow. His eyes clouded for a moment. They soon cleared.

"You're right about that I guess. What are we going to do? Are we just going to keep fighting her or what?" asked Rouge.

"We may have to."

Zaira was almost terrified. Continue fighting? That could potentially lead them to the path of self-destruction. She glided away with one last glance back at Shadow. If only if she could read his mind…

"I saw something," said Shadow.

Zaira stopped. She turned back around to see what he saw. Was it a dream? Real life? It must have been important if Shadow would actually bring it up like this.

"It was her eyes. They were burning with flames. It was all rage… Her eyes have never lied before. All the other times I've studied her, I only saw envy with love mixed together. She had never been truly mad at anyone. If she had, it was never around me. When I looked into her's at the skyscraper, I saw flames. Bright red flames. I could see my reflection in them. It looked as if I were burning within them. The way she saw me and wanted me to burn was crazy and overwhelming. She now wants me dead. That's enough proof for me to see that she is not Zaira," Shadow replied.

 _It's true Shadow! It's true! I've always liked you! You know it! I'd never wish for you to burn!_

"Should we tell Sonic and his pals?" asked Rouge.

"No. They aren't worthy of this information. Tails would hook me up to a machine of some sort to see if he could get a reading on how much different she is in my brain to compare it to Kaira to see if she really is Zaira. Maybe even try to use me to, well, I don't even want to think about it. Tails would go crazy and Sonic would do something stupid. This is a secret for now," Shadow replied.

Rouge nodded and began to leave. Shadow would need to recover more of his strength. He couldn't do that if he was talking to her.

Zaira's head spinned. What now? Shadow knows it's not her, but what will happen now that he knows? If he got Vivilock got too beat up, her body would be too banged up to ever let Zaira return to her original body. That would mean that she would never be a physical Drayan again. That would only happen if they were to fight.

 _Her name is Vivilock! I tell you the truth! Can you hear my nonexistent brain?!_

"Vivilock?" asked Shadow.

Zaira's heart skipped a beat. He could hear her! Maybe they really did have an invisible connection between them. That, or Shadow is really good at listening to really quiet waves in the air. Maybe there still was some of her left.

 _Shadow! Can you hear me?!_

"Vivilock… I have no idea how that came to me, but it was not by anything normal," Shadow said going back into a trance-like sleep.

Zaira sighed in her mind. She left instantly.

The morning came and Sonic skipped back out of the Blue Typhoon. He stretched for a moment, then got serious.

"Darn it! My chili dog is still in the Blue Typhoon!" he exclaimed irritatedly. He raced back in to get it. He returned two seconds after.

"Alright, everyone who knows who I am approach me!" shouted Sonic.

Everyone slowly came up to Sonic. They were all still only half awake. Shadow wasn't there, but Sonic figured he wouldn't; Rouge was however.

"Now, everyone, we have a big day ahead of us. We each need to find the rest of the color emeralds. We have got two that we don't have to worry about, but there are lots more out there! That is why I am splitting up everyone to go to different continents. There are seven right? North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Antarctica are the places that the color emeralds could be. We already know that Zaira has a couple of them. I think she wouldn't leave the continent, so I'll take this one with Tails, Knuckles, and Kaira. What continent are we on anyway?" asked Sonic looking around.

"Considering that Sonic X is originally a Japanese show, I'd say that we're in Japan. However, everyone ironically speaks English! What's up with that?!" asked Amy just realizing that.

"Okay I'm taking Asia then. Amy, Pink, Cosmic, and Apple will go to Europe. Runner, Gold, Orange, and Sunny will go to Africa. Vector, Espio, and Charmy will take Australia. Daisy, R.T, B.T, Baby Blue, Baby Sharp, and Fury will go to South America. Cream, Cheese, Cosmo, Lily, and Rabby, go to North America. Shadow, Rouge, and Jack can go to Antarctica. If you have any spare time, go to check out the oceans. Is that all clear?" asked Sonic. Everyone only groaned in reply.

"It can't be helped. We will go," said Amy.

"Alright! Let's go! Tails, fly everyone to their destinations using the Blue Typhoon!" Sonic said. Tails nodded and scurried into the Blue Typhoon. Everyone except for Knuckles and Kaira followed. Rouge got Shadow who was reluctant to be on the giant ship, but did so anyway. They were all off on their missions. The Blue Typhoon flew away swiftly. Sonic, Knuckles, and Kaira waved to them as they left.

As Kaira waved, a horrible thought crossed her mind. They only have a week and five days to find the color emeralds and get back to their world. If they didn't, the very fabric of the universe would fall apart. The color emeralds could be anywhere. How were they supposed to find ten color emeralds before the second week was up?


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

 **The Race for the Color Emeralds**

"First stop, Europe!" said Tails. Amy, Pink, Cosmic, and Apple, this is your stop!" Tails yelled to them.

"Alright, where are we landing?" asked Amy.

"Italy."

"What?! Not the city of love?!" cried Pink. She crossed her arms angrily at Tails.

"Look on the bright side! We'll get to experience the place where pizza was made! We all like pizza don't we?" asked Cosmic to Amy and Pink. They both nodded brightening up a little.

"Okay! Let's go!" said Apple as they landed.

Amy, Cosmic, Apple, and Pink left the ship. Amy looked around and breathed in deeply. She then slowly released it as she let the new air sink in.

"We're here! Let's go to a pizzeria or something! I'm starving!" exclaimed Apple as the Blue Typhoon flew away. Everyone agreed.

"I love pizza! After the pizza, we'll go see the Leaning Tower or something!" Pink said excitedly.

 **With Shadow, Rouge, and Jack.**

"Why are we supposed to be going to Antarctica? It's too cold there! I hate treasure hunting in the cold!" cried Rouge.

"Think of it this way! You three are going to a cool continent. That means that you selected people are just as cool as it is!" Tails chirped in reply.

"You are always there with an answer that will get you out of trouble," Rouge replied.

They landed and Shadow immediately picked up a force from the color emerald. It was weak, but still fairly close by. Rouge and Jack shivered as they started walking.

"Rouge, where did we pick this guy up from?" asked Shadow when he looked back at Jack. Jack was no longer his normal color. He was white from cold. Rouge shook her head.

"Even Zaira was better!" Rouge exclaimed.

 _Aw… I am loved after all…_

Zaira was hovering a little ways away. She could have swore she saw Shadow's ear twitch as if he had heard something. He continued walking. He knew that there was a color emerald close by. The three of them ran in the direction of the emerald.

Tails dropped off everyone else and got back to Sonic. Sonic, Knuckles, and Kaira already had a plan all worked out. Tails learned of the plan and agreed to it.

"Hey Tails! Good to see you! Alright, you said that Zaira could potentially attract all of the color emeralds to her if she has enough power?" asked Sonic.

"Precisely. She can only do it though if she has the right amount of power and the right conditions. However, after her little meeting with Shadow and stealing the color emeralds, she can't possibly have enough power to draw them all to her. This is the time to act. She probably gave the color emeralds to Blue Sycamore. I now know where the base is now thanks to Sonic getting kidnapped. We just have to sneak in and get them," Kaira explained to everyone. They each nodded.

"Then we just have to stop her before she gets enough power to attract all of the color emeralds! When'll we go?" asked Tails.

"Okay, even Drayans need rest. She will have to rest up to get power. Drayans aren't nocturnal, so she should be taking a nap tonight. That is when we will attack!" Kaira said.

"Okay! Wait, what about you?" asked Knuckles.

"Are you kidding?! I've been recovering for days from a curse that can only weaken a Drayan. I'm pumped!" she replied.

Sonic was glad to know that at least she was energized. He wasn't so keen on returning back to the base. That could result in having another fight with Blue Sycamore. Black Maple was nothing. Dark Oak wasn't at all scary. Blue Sycamore was crafty and smart. If Zaira was his leader, she must be even more crafty and smart.

"Alright, Tails we may need some help with getting technology for our mission, so I'll stay and tell you what I need. Knuckles and Sonic, you guys should rest up. No point in wasting your energy. You need every last bit of energy. Meet back here at nine tonight. Got it?" asked Kaira. They nodded and left for the Blue Typhoon.

Rouge and Jack were still following Shadow to try to find the color emerald. He could feel it for sure. The directions for where it was were clear to Shadow. Cold temperatures could never stop him. He raced forward a few more feet. Then he looked around.

"What is it?" asked Rouge curiously.

"T-t-the color e-e-emeralds-s-s?" Jack chattered.

"It should be right beneath our feet," Shadow replied. He began spinning into a spin attack. He spun into the ground. Down, down, down, down… Finally, he stopped and hopped back out with the gem in his hand. It wasn't quite what anyone expected.

"It's gray? Why is it gray? It looks… dead!" Rouge exclaimed. She had never seen a gray jewel before.

"This is it. The power coming from it is powerful. There is no doubt in my mind that this is it," Shadow stated.

"H-h-how are y-you n-not cold?!" cried Jack.

"Put a sock in it! Who do you think it's for?" asked Rouge.

Zaira was observing in the distance. The color emerald Shadow found really did look dead. Shadow was looking deep within it. Zaira thought she could detect a hint of surprise from his mind. She tried to read it the best she could.

 _This gem… It does have a color. It's just like her eyes on the inside. Could this be-? No. It just can't be! Is she the chosen?!_

As much as Zaira wanted to believe it, she didn't think that it was right. She was the villain! She was the one who was going to destroy the world to get revenge for what the world did to her. All she ever got was rejection. Only the metaltrons would accept her, but even they seemed to hate her. No she was gone. Nobody liked her. Rouge didn't understand the whole story, she couldn't give them the full story, and only Shadow had a slight idea. He could detect even the slightest changes in the universe. What if he actually knew everything about what was happening. No. His thoughts don't match up. Maybe he was just really smart.

"Shadow…?" asked Shadow.

"This is unlike any gem I've ever seen. Not like a chaos emerald. It's related to the gem that's as black as a storm, but clear as ice. Only this, is the lost heart that is going to be found. The gray that wasn't really gray. The dead that wasn't forever dead you could say… This is something that belongs to someone who's powers are starting to overcome. I've heard the legend. The color emerald seemed to tell me. Although, my question is… Who is the hero of wind and spirit? Everyone would think it would be Sonic, but why? Isn't there more than one hedgehog that could compete for that spot?" asked Shadow.

"Why are we saying stuff like this that has nothing to do with anything?" asked Rouge.

"Who said it wasn't related to the topic?" asked Shadow.

"What?" asked Rouge.

"...Nevermind. You'll find out all in good time. Now,we need to find our way back to Sonic," Shadow replied dropping the subject.

Shadow's words confused Zaira. Wasn't Sonic the hero of spirit and wind? There's also Runner, but he's only a pipsqueak! Could he have been referring to himself? Shadow was the hero and spirit of wind? Who said that couldn't be so. Zaira thought longer and harder.

 _If Sonic were to go against me, he'd be squished like a bug. Who would be my weakness?_

Suddenly, she got why Shadow was thinking it. The only hedgehog she would never be able to defeat would be Shadow. She likes him too much to finish him off herself. Although, he knows that Vivilock is not me. We're going to have the final confrontation be against the wrong person! There also wouldn't be one if she were still in control of her own body through… Zaira sighed in her mind and glided after Shadow.

That night, Sonic, Kaira, Tails, and Knuckles were outside the well hidden base. Sonic opened a way in through an air vent. The four crawled inside.

"How many color emeralds do we need?" asked Tails.

"Two. I think that one is dark blue and the other is red. Scarlet red to be specific," Kaira replied to Tails' question.

"Okay. I built these to get past the laser lights. Also, the cameras won't detect us. The only way we won't be getting through is if we run into a guard. It doesn't look ridiculous. It's a bracelet. Highly advanced technology we're using here. Be careful!" Tails warned everyone. Sonic gave him a thumbs up.

"Knuckles you will distract them by going that way, the way we're not going. Sonic will go down the other way first to clear out the guards. Then, me and Tails will come in. With our intelligence, we should be able to shut down the metarex temporarily. It should give us enough time to escape. Knuckles, my only rule for you is don't die. Tails, you will follow me the entire way. I think I've located where the color emeralds are. Everybody understand?" asked Kaira. When everybody nodded, Kaira smirked.

"Phase one will now commence!" commanded Kaira to Knuckles. He nodded to her and jumped out of the air vent. Instantly, he ran into a couple of metarex only in sky blue armor to show that they worked for blue sycamore. Their eyes were royal blue.

"Look at this. We have a visitor. What is your purpose for being here?" they asked Knuckles. Two other metarex appeared behind Knuckles. They had him surrounded.

"I'm looking for the color emeralds! There is no way that you're going to stop me!" yelled Knuckles darting between the metarex before they could react.

"After him! Don't let that red echidna get away! He's after the color emeralds!" yelled the metarex over a speaker that rang all throughout the base. Metarex came flocking after him.

"They don't know that I'm going the wrong way," Knuckles mumbled to himself. He laughed at them. They were so slow!

Kaira, Sonic, and Tails waited for a second. The hallway was clear. Kaira nodded to Sonic. Sonic nodded back at her. He hopped out of the air vent.

"Time to go trash some metarex!" Sonic chirped. He raced down the hallway in the opposite direction Knuckles went. A few metarex were guarding down that way. Sonic had to grin.

"Hey guys! Down here! You may be blue now, but you're not the blue blur!" Sonic taunted. The sky blue metarex charged after him. Sonic hopped around. He was never in the same spot for more than a second. When he had gotten behind the hopeless metarex, he spun into them. Their parts flew everywhere. Sonic gave Tails and Kaira a thumbs up. They nodded back and hopped out of the air vent. The two of them raced after Sonic.

"Sonic! Through that door should be the color emeralds. Can you take out gold armored metarex?" asked Kaira.

"No sweat! I'm going to beat that thing with my eyes closed!" Sonic replied. He spun into a spin attack and ramped into the metarex. He bounced right off.

"Or not…," Sonic sighed. He stood up and ran around in small circles around the metarex. The robot began to get a headache, so it tried to land a blow on Sonic, but it only got Sonic's blue tail of light. Sonic stood right next to it.

"Oh…, just missed me!" Sonic chirped with a hop, skip, and a jump away. The other metarex followed him.

Kaira took this chance to break into the room with Tails. It was completely dark. There were two color emeralds being stored in capsules full of water. The water probably preserved or stored the power of the color emeralds. Between the two emeralds was the Drayan whom was Kaira's worst enemy. Zaira was asleep in mid air somehow. She didn't awake.

"What's she doing?" asked Tails.

"She's trying to store up enough power to summon the rest of the color emeralds to her. She can't do that without at least one however…," Kaira whispered. She made her way to one of the emeralds. Due to not stepping carefully, she set off an alarm in the base. It rang loudly. Zaira's eyes opened. This time, they were red rather than neon green.

"What are you doing here? You don't deserve these emeralds!" Zaira snapped.

"I can't say you deserve them either! You want to destroy the universe because you lived such a pathetic life!" Kaira snapped back.

"Oh, it's much more than that now. You wouldn't understand. If you want these emeralds, you'll have to fight me for them," Zaira told her. She glided to the floor.

"Bring it."

The two Drayans raced towards each other and Zaira shoved Kaira two the ground. She gave her wings a hard tug. Kaira hissed and forced herself back to her feet. She landed a punch on the side of Zaira's face and they took to the air. They grabbed at each other and pulled each other's hair. Tails looked on fearfully from the floor. Kaira struggled to keep in the air, but Zaira looked as if she was hardly trying. She circle threw Kaira across the room, against a wall, and she flopped onto the floor. Zaira glided back to the floor with ease. She didn't catch Tails trying to sneak around the room to the controls.

"Is this really all you've got?! Hah! You're not even good enough to be my fake!" Zaira laughed.

"I can only try to stop you, but you were always clever and better at fighting, but I still won't back down. Not for all of eternity! I will fight!" Kaira shouted.

"You say these things, but you are still weak! You'll never be able to compare to my power!" Zaira shot back.

"Well, I might one day. I'm better at seeing things you can't," Kaira replied with a smirk.

"What?"

"It's just that Tails has deactivated everything in the base and is now hacking into the capsules to get the color emeralds," Kaira said.

Tails grabbed the two emeralds and bolted for the door. It was wide opened. He had deactivated all of the metarex in the base (other than Blue Sycamore) and took down the security system. Zaira grabbed Tails with her power.

"Do you really think that I'd let you get away?! This is going to be my victory. Speaking of victory… Ugh! The final battle… Fine. I'll just leave you with a warning. The final battle is close at hand. According to the legend, there is no changing you getting the color emeralds, but I can still win against you! Goodbye, until then!" yelled Zaira sending Kaira, Tails, Knuckles, and Sonic back to where they were when they started planning to get the color emeralds.

"What happened?" asked Sonic.

"I think we were teleported out of the base by Zaira. Now, I'm not sure what to think…," Kaira sighed.

"How long has it been?" asked Sonic.

"About thirty minutes. The sun is rising. Day two is over. How long will it take to pick everyone up?" asked Kaira.

"About a day," Tails answered.

"That should be enough time, but how long will it take to find them is the question," Knuckles replied.

"With the help of my scanner, two days," Tails answered.

"If they don't have the emeralds?" asked Sonic.

"About five days more."

"And the time it will take to send us back?" asked Kaira.

"To make the reaction will take a day," Tails answered.

"That is our time limit. If we don't get back with two days left to spare, we, more than likely, will tear apart the very fabric of the universe. That's because there are two Drayans in this world, so things may get a little bad. You may encounter space-time rifts. Don't fall into the tears! If you do, nobody will remember you existed and you will never again have any hope of escaping unless if somebody pulls you out through another rift. Understood?" asked Kaira. The only person who understood what she said was Tails.

"Oh whatever. We just need to get everyone through a portal back to our world! Let's go!" Tails yelled hopping into the X-Tornado. Sonic and Knuckles got that at least. They jumped onto it and Tails launched the ship. They were off on their mission in minutes.

 **Back in Antarctica.**

Shadow, Zaira, and Jack had found a small cave to take shelter in. They were able to light a small fire and huddled around that. Shadow sat more isolated from them and began to think to himself.

 _Why does the emerald look dead. Does it really belong to Zaira? That would explain a lot of things about it._

 _The dead that came back to life…_

Zaira thought about what Shadow had said and thought about that. She understood it all perfectly. She had tried to communicate to Shadow somehow. He had read her mind about three times now. Did they have some sort of connection?

Rouge stabbed at the fire with a stick. It crackled and popped when she did. Jack was returning to his normal color at long last. Shadow rolled his eyes. Why Tails assigned him to go with them was a mystery. He went back to thinking.

"Shadow, when will you finally talk to us? You haven't said anything I understand all day! Say something!" Rouge said.

"I wouldn't mind a friendly conversation myself…," Jack said.

Shadow looked at them for a minute and away. He knew far more than they did. He couldn't talk to Rouge with Jack sitting there hearing everything he would say. Maybe that's why Tails sent him with them. To act as a spy.

"Well, even if you don't tell us anything, we're still stuck here until Tails gets us which will probably be a while…," Rouge replied.

"I'm not sure of how much more I can take of all of this silence! I don't even want to be here!" Jack whimpered.

"Quit being such a cry baby!" Rouge sighed.

"I'm not!" Jack objected. Rouge only rolled her eyes in reply to him.

"Quit your fighting… I don't want to get physically involved with anything at the moment. If you start anything, you will regret it," Shadow told them with a stern glare.

"Well, at least he said something."

The three of them sat in silence. Shadow closed his eyes for a moment. He wasn't sure why, but he felt he had to. It felt like he was connecting with everything.

 _Shadow! Shadow!_

"What in the-?!" Shadow hopped to his feet. Did someone just speak to him? Who was it? Rouge and Jack looked up at Shadow curiously.

"What's wrong?" asked Rouge.

"It's this voice… In my head… I think I've been hearing it everywhere… Or am I going mad?" Shadow asked still staring off into space.

Zaira looked at him alarmed. He could hear her mind! But how? Were they somehow connected? The two people in the universe who don't get along, but still could occasionally read each other's thoughts. How weird is that.

 _He can hear me!_

"A voice?" asked Rouge.

"It's always speaking to me and… I can't…," Shadow's voice faded. He collapsed onto the ground.

"Shadow?! Wha-?! Shadow!" Rouge yelled.

 _Shadow?_

"Jack get him nearer to the fire! I have no idea what's going on, but I intend to find out," Rouge exclaimed.

 _I didn't do anything, but why do I feel that I'm connected to everything now?_

Everything that happened in that cave was unclear. Nobody knew what was happening. Zaira could only guess what was happening. The world was shifting. Shadow could feel it. Two Drayans in one world takes a lot of power. It was amazing that the Earth was still holding on. The world was either going to end, or the final confrontation was going to happen.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

 **Going Home**

"How many people do we have Tails?" asked Sonic.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Kaira had been flying around all day picking people up from the different continents and collecting the color emeralds. They had eventually found everyone other than Shadow, Rouge, and Jack. They were going to get them.

"We have all but three. You try to figure out who gets what color emeralds. I'll continue flying in the same direction we've been going all day…," Tails told Sonic.

Sonic found the color emeralds. Everyone was either squishing themselves inside the X-tornado, or taking their chances outside of it. Sonic looked at the emeralds.

"We have them all collected but one. I don't know what that color is. Okay… So that dark blue emerald is glowing at me… Nothing strange…," Sonic said to himself.

Lily knocked on the window. Sonic looked at her. She pointed at the color emerald and told him to touch it. Sonic shrugged and did as she said. When he did, a mysterious power came over him and the emerald slammed into his chest and it felt like it had merged with Sonic's heart. Sonic stood breathing hard. The dark blue color emerald had found its vessel apparently.

"Yay… I have my color emerald…," Sonic said weakly.

"It may take you a moment to get over the side effects…," Lily explained to Sonic.

The next few hours were spent flying. Nobody said a word. The silence was odd, but what was more odd was Tails' anticipation.

"Tails, is there something wrong?" asked Sonic.

"There may be… Those tears that Kaira was talking about are real. They've been appearing in the air and I've been trying to avoid them, but you can only imagine how hard that is," Tails replied.

"The tears?" asked Sonic.

"Yeah. The time pocket is slowly dissolving! That doesn't mean that the days are going to loop. That only means that the days are going to at some point disappear all together. That world mean that this entire dimension would be destroyed. I can't tell what that would do to all the other dimensions as well. It could destroy all life in all dimensions!" Tails yelled.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't listening. Could you tell me everything again?" asked Sonic.

Tails growled with exasperation. A tear appeared in front of him. Tails swerved away from it. Sonic crashed into the window and the others outside were holding on for dear life. Tails sighed with relief.

"That was close! We need to get the last color emerald and fast," Tails sighed to himself.

"Hang on a sec! I think we've made it!" Sonic exclaimed. He pointed at the large white mass that rose up out of the ocean.

"Finally! I needed some good news! We need to find Shadow, Rouge, and Jack now!" Tails yelled.

He lowered the plane. Everyone searched around frantically. It was late in the evening and they still couldn't find anything Sonic was taking a nap behind Tails. His snoring was the only thing keeping Tails awake.

"TAILS! TAILS!" yelled someone from outside the ship.

"Yeah?"

"I saw a light! In a cave! It looks like fire! I think I found them!" yelled the person. It was Rabby. She pointed somewhere north of them. Tails looked harder and saw it too. He nearly screamed with happiness.

"Thanks Rabby! I would've missed it if you didn't point it out!" Tails replied.

They landed down onto the ground outside of the cave. Jack came running to greet Tails.

"Jack! I'm sorry to leave you here with them, but someone else had to go!" Tails greeted.

"Nevermind that! We need help! I think he's in trouble!" Jack shouted urgently. Everyone was hopping off the plane to see what the commotion was about.

"What's wrong?"

"Me and Rouge think Shadow's got hypothermia!" Jack replied.

With those simple words, everybody scurried into the cave. Shadow was lying next to the fire, but he didn't look like he was in a simple sleep. He wasn't shivering at all and he was completely unresponsive to anything they tried to do to wake him up.

"His temperature is below normal… What is his temperature?" asked Tails.

"I don't know why! He's gone down to 65 degrees Fahrenheit! It's slowly dropping…," Rouge replied.

"It's almost like he's dormant… Like he was put into hypersleep or something. Where his body would completely stop, but he's still alive. What do you think could have caused this?" asked Tails.

"He was thinking about the owner of the color emerald we found. I don't know why he would spend so much time thinking about it… He jumped up to his feet from deep thought suddenly talking about voices. Voices that wouldn't stop speaking to him… And… he collapsed!" Jack finished. Tails began to wonder.

"It might have been too much strain on his brain. So many things were happening, that his brain needed to shut down and have a break. His brain shut down so much that he was put into a state of being suspended. That's why his body temperature is getting so low. He isn't making any body body temperature to heat him up," Tails explained.

"Okay. Well, what now?" asked Knuckles.

"We must get him to some place warmer. He should eventually wake up if he gets warmed up and enough rest," Tails told him.

"Poor Shadow. I wonder what Zaira would say to this," Kaira said.

"She wouldn't care."

 _That's not true! I'm devastated! They don't even know anything! Shadow, where are you…?_

 **Shadow's POV**

"Where am I? It's dark… And cold… Almost as if I've been dragged to the deepest parts of my mind…," Shadow said to himself. He looked around.

 _There will be a fight…_

 _Shadow will bring light…_

 _Shadow will bring light…_

"What are you saying?! Who are you?!" demanded Shadow. He looked around. No one was there.

 _Save her…_

 _Save her…_

"I'd love to, but Zaira is currently not in the state of mind to be saved," Shadow replied to the air.

"You know spirit…," the air told him.

"Yes. I know it all. Is that why I'm here?" asked Shadow.

"No…"

"Why then?!"

"Because Shadow will bring light. Yet, death is in sight. Although, Shadow's light will outshine all light. Save her… Or the future will be destroyed forever…"

"Why?! Why am I connected to her in everything even when she is literally not herself?" asked Shadow starting to get annoyed.

"The link…"

"That's just the greatest explanation I've ever gotten. Really, why?" he asked again. The voice didn't reply.

"Is that it?!"

"Shadow, if we tell you more, the future will for certain be destroyed. Have shadow outshine light. Shadow outshine light! Power you don't lack! Bring her back!"

"Bring her back…," Shadow copied. He didn't like lack of answers. Why couldn't life be easy?

The voice vanished completely. Shadow was standing completely alone. Alone… Ever since he had met Sonic, he realized, he had never been alone. Not until now when he was in a black void of nothingness.

 _So this is what it's like… Being alone… So this is how Zaira felt… No wonder she went mad…_

Shadow knew that he liked being alone, but not the kind of alone that made him feel as if he were nonexistent like now. It was almost like… he was between dead and alive forever.

A memory popped up in his head. It was what someone had said to him a long while ago.

"I have a question for you Shadow. If you knew about this, would you have been so nasty? I loath you when you insult me Shadow. I loath you with the fire of a million suns… Maybe even more… You don't know what it's like to be hated so much that everyone whom you turned to wouldn't even give you a chance. Sonic gave you a chance, Rouge gave you a chance, Dr. Eggman even gave you a chance, Molly gave you a chance, Maria gave you a chance, but who gave me the right kind of chance?"

Shadow recognized the voice. Her tone filled with envy. The Zaira who completely envied him for everything he had so long ago. She was right. Everyone seemed to give him a chance, but nobody gave her a chance. Shadow realized that this was the first time he had ever felt guilt. It was clear to him now. He had to save her. She needed that second chance. They needed to battle the one who had stolen her soul.

Vivilock.

Shadow remembered that one word. Vivilock. That was her name.

He found himself waking up on a soft bed on the Blue Typhoon. How much was just a dream? How much was real?

"Hey guys! Shadow's awake!" a female voice yelled.

Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails raced into the room. The one who had yelled was Amy.

"What…?" Shadow asked looking around weakly.

"You passed out. Your brain completely shut down for some reason and I couldn't wake you up. You were dormant for a while," Tails explained.

"Dormant?"

"You were barely breathing, you weren't producing body heat, you didn't have any thoughts… Yeah," Knuckles told him.

"I've only been through the strangest of things…," Shadow mumbled.

Shadow found the strength to hop to his feet. He looked around. Alarm struck him all of the sudden.

"How long was I out?!"cried Shadow.

"A long time."

"How long?!"

"Four days…," Tails said in reply.

"Four days?!" Shadow yelled. There wasn't much time left. They had at least two days left before the world would be destroyed. Tails knew that, but none of the others would understand.

"Whoa! What's your hurry?!" asked Sonic.

"We need to make the color emerald reaction now!" Shadow yelled.

"Okay! Tails has already starting to try and figure out how to make the reaction work in our favor to take us home. Don't sweat it!" Sonic said trying to calm him down.

"How long will it take to make it?" demanded Shadow.

"About a day… We need a chaos emerald though…," Tails said. He remembered that Zaira had stolen them and the master emerald which gave them all a problem.

"Well…," Shadow started. He grabbed a chaos emerald he had been carrying around with him. Tails, Knuckles, and Sonic stared in amazement. "I thought that I'd be prepared for something like this…"

"Where'd you get that?!" the three of them said at once.

"You know… At that little meeting with Zaira on the skyscraper in Station Square, I thought that maybe she wouldn't mind if I borrowed this…," Shadow said. The emerald was red and glowing in his hand.

"You are a genius! That should be enough to send everything from our world back! We just need To give everyone their color emeralds now!" Tails said.

They scurried to the room where the chaos emeralds used to be stored, but was now used to store the color emeralds. Tails turned off the security lasers and alarms and got the color emeralds out.

"We've been trying to figure out which belongs to who. Although it's all kind of unclear at the moment," Knuckles explained. Shadow looked at them.

"There are fourteen color emeralds. What colors do we have.

"You have black, Sonic has dark blue, Lily has purple, white, red, green, rainbow, hot pink, light blue, yellow, orange, silver, regular pink, and that last gray one that you found. I wonder what happened to it…," Tails said staring deeply into it. "Almost looks dead."

 _That's what everyone else keeps saying…_

Zaira was hovering just behind them. She had already made an attempt to grab the emerald, but it was just no use. She was beginning to lose all hope in everything. She had been a ghost for over a week. If she wasn't going to be changed back, she really would become immortal. It would be worse than anything that's ever happened before. An eternity of nothing.

"Well, based on color, Sunshine is yellow, Tails is probably orange, Knuckles is red for sure, Apple is green, Runner is light blue, I'm going to guess that Cosmo is white, Cream and Cheese are silver, Rabby is hot pink, Kaira is rainbow, and Amy is pink," Shadow replied.

"Sonic, why can't you do that?" asked Tails.

Sonic shrugged. How was he supposed to know? Tails summoned everyone to the room. Sonic told them their colors. They each touched their color emeralds. The room exploded with light. Sonic, Shadow, and Lily were fascinated by the extreme light. It only lasted a minute, but seemed like a long eternity.

"I ache all over…," Runner complained.

"Stop your complaining… You now have ultimate power…," Sunshine mumbled to him.

"I must admit… When it happens, it sure does suck the energy right out of you…," Apple commented.

Rabby stood up. She was a little wobbly, but she quickly regained her strength. The bright pink fox walked over to Lily.

"Do I look any different?" she asked.

"No. You look exactly the same." she told her.

"Good."

Everyone slowly got to their feet. They all looked around. What now?

"Uh… Now what? I think we're supposed to make some sort of reaction," Sonic said.

"It's the last color emerald… The one that is gray and doesn't have any power… What do we do about it? It's probably the reason. We just needed to get all the color emeralds and the chaos emeralds in one room. The last color emerald is what's keeping us here!" Tails exclaimed pointing at the emerald.

"That's our problem. I know who it belongs to," Shadow said.

"You do?" asked Sunshine.

"Yes."

 _No! He can't tell them! Not yet!_

Zaira flew up to it in a panic. She summoned the courage to believe that she could touch it. It began to light up slightly. She grabbed it and it burst to life. An emerald green color flooded from the jewel and everyone else in the room gasped. They still couldn't see Zaira or even know that she was there, but Shadow swore he saw a faint outline of her wings in the light. A portal appeared above them.

"Are you sure that this will send us home?!" asked Pink franticly looking around.

"Yes! Everything from our world! It'll all be sent back! Even the Metarex, the Metaltrons, and Zaira!" yelled Tails.

"Vivilock…," Shadow corrected to himself. Nobody heard what he said.

The portal slowly began to grow bigger and bigger. They could feel the Blue Typhoon slowly being sucked into it. Eggman's ship was following. Eggman didn't seem to care.

"The fact that all I have to do is sit around and do nothing while Sonic saves the day again is just disturbing…," is all that Eggman said.

"Shouldn't you be concerned?" asked Cubot.

"Well, if he's not freaking out about it, I guess that we shouldn't either…," Orbot said slowly.

Sonic was the first to float into the air and into the portal. He flew all the way making a Superman pose. Amy giggled. He disappeared in the portal. Everyone else began to float from the ground as well.

"Looks like it's working!" Kaira yelled to them.

 _Okay. They're getting sent back, but how am I supposed to get through?_

Zaira was hovering in front of the portal and didn't feel anything trying to pull her in. There was only one way for her to travel. She would have to shove herself into someone else and share a ride with them. She flung herself into Runner. He shivered.

"H-Hey guys! I-I think something just flew inside of me… It's cold…," Runner said getting sort of scared.

"Probably just a cold draft. It's more than likely nothing," Tails told him. They were sucked into the portal.

Many purples and blues flew past them. It was terrifying, but also exciting.

"This is the best thing ever!" screamed Runner.

 _It totally is!_

"Wha-? I could have swore I just heard someone! In my head? My conscience?" asked Runner.

 _YES! I am your conscience! Now be quiet!_

"Uh… Okay… You're the conscience!"

They all flew through a glowing white ring and they fell on the ground. Zaira zipped away from Runner as fast as he could.

"Hey guys… The odd presence has left me all of the sudden… Speaking of odd, where are we?" asked Runner.

Kaira closed her eyes and felt the truth telling atmosphere surrounding them. They were back on Greengate. She looked around. It didn't look like Greengate…

"Look up there!" Amy exclaimed pointing up.

Right as she said that, everything else tumbled through the portal. The bad thing was that Vivilock came tumbling through with them. She found herself on top of Gold the hedgehog. He glared at her for a moment and crawled over to Sonic.

"It looks like we are many miles away from the surface…," Amy said pointing to a hole above them. Light was flickering down from the hole. They all turned around and saw Vivilock and the metarex standing from the ground.

"Well… I guess I should the radar for giant portals more often. Where are you going to do now?" she asked taking a step forward.

"Um…," Sonic looked around. Up was the only way out. There was only one thing to do.

"Up and out!"

Everyone scrambled over to Sonic. Sonic, Shadow, Cream, Runner, and Rouge began to run people to the top. Vivilock came after them of course, but she didn't get to them quick enough. They sprinted across the open clearing.

"We can't battle her now! Not with the last emerald not working! We have to get to Gold's house! It's the only way! We'll stay there for now!" Sonic commanded.

Everyone obeyed. They bolted to the mansion with Vivilock in close pursuit. Kaira turns around and puts up a force field to keep her out. Vivilock bangs on the force field angrily.

"You can't hide in there forever! When you come out, I'll be waiting for you!" she yelled.

"Waiting for us… I don't like the sound of that…," Lily mumbled.

"How long are we staying here?" asked Vector.

"Until we find the owner of the last emerald…," Tails answered.

"The problem is… we can't give the emerald to its rightful owner," Shadow mumbled to himself.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

 **Hiding**

"How long have we been here?" asked Espio.

"Twenty-six minutes, thirty seconds, and five tenths of a second," Charmy replied.

Everyone in the house had tried to get the color emerald to work in their favor, but it didn't react to any of them. Shadow thought he heard something in his mind when looking into it, but it was a little faint. He was beginning to get used to it.

Zaira hovered nearby. She looked on at her color emerald sitting dead on a table. The very reason for why they couldn't attack Vivilock right at that moment. She was still in the way, but not at the same time.

"Hang on a second, what about Dr. Eggman?" asked Apple.

"He's still back there! What if Zaira has him?!" asked Rabby.

"I'd seriously doubt that. Besides, what would she want with that old Egghead anyway?" asked Sonic.

"We should still see if he's okay. If we lose Eggman, Sega will throw a fit more than likely. Eggman has been around as Sonic's rival since the beginning of Sonic himself. Even I came after Sonic and Eggman," Tails said.

"Don't break the fourth wall Tails," said Espio.

"So, how are we supposed to rescue Eggman if he's out there? We're stuck in here until we can get this color emerald to work," Knuckles pointed out.

"Gold, does this house have a message transmitter?" asked Tails looking around.

"I think he does upstairs. It might be in that chest in my bedroom," Runner said.

"So that's where it went…," Gold said to himself.

"Runner sending what's not allowed! Sending messages all around! Surely he'll make Father proud! Sarcastic we are cause he's going down!" R.T and B.T rhymed.

"Chao…," Fury said.

"I wonder why he would a message transmitter…," Cream told Cheese.

"Chao!" Cheese agreed.

"That doesn't matter now! Runner, get that transmitter!" Gold commanded.

Runner scurried up the stairs. They all heard him burst open the chest and dig noisily through it. They heard him scream 'Ah-hah!' from the room and he ran back down the stairs.

"I found it! Should I hook it up right here?" asked Runner.

"YES!" everyone yelled.

Runner started racing to set it up. As soon as he had it all setup, all he had to do was plug it in, but when he did, nothing happened.

"Uh… Why isn't it working?" asked Orange tapping his foot. "The show must go on!"

"I think that there is no electricity in this house…," Runner remarked looking around at how the electronics weren't working.

"Does anyone in this house have electrokinesis?" asked Apple.

 _I'd love to do it, but I can't. I'm kind of nonexistent at the moment._

Zaira sighed in her mind. Another complication… Vivilock probably would've been done for if she wasn't a ghost…

"Hey, Kaira! Can you do it?!" asked Sonic.

"I'm a little busy with a force field at the moment!" she retorted.

"GREAT! We have no power!" Orange said stomping his foot.

"There is only one way to get power now. There's a backup generator in the back of the house. Although, whoever's going to turn it on will have to be outside of the force field for a second. Also, if Zaira finds the force field, she'll probably destroy it. We have limited time on this!" Gold explained to everyone.

"We got it!" Sunshine said.

"Well, who's going to be the one to leave the force field?" asked Amy looking around.

There was a long silence. Nobody wanted to do it. Finally, they each looked at Sonic. Sonic backed away slowly.

"Why can't Shadow do it?!" demanded Sonic.

"The sunlight will give me away! I have black fur! Black stands out in the light!" Shadow explained.

"Knuckles?" asked Sonic.

"I'd think that you would blend in better with the royal blue flowers behind the house where the generator is!" Knuckles explained.

"Runner…," Sonic moped.

"I'm the wrong shade of blue! Besides, I don't have nearly the same amount of guts that you do!" Runner chirped.

Sonic sighed. It was official. Sonic was going to hook up the generator. The blue hedgehog walked a step out of the front door. Kaira was standing outside holding up the force field.

"You gonna go or what?" she asked.

Sonic nodded. She let him through the force field and continued holding it up. Sonic snuck off to the side of the house. The force field went all around the house and got everything other than the generator… Sonic crawled along the edge. Then he heard some people talking to each other.

"Are you sure that we want to do this?" asked one metallic voice.

"Yes! We've been over the plan a million times! We wait for Zaira to cause a diversion so we can break in from the back end of the house. While she's attacking from the front, Kaira will direct the strength of the force field to the front. That'll make the force field over here weaker!" another voice answered.

Sonic nearly gasped. That was Blue Sycamore! The metarex were going to break into the house to kill them all! Sonic trembled fearfully and ducked into a bush. He crawled from bush to bush until he was directly behind the metarex.

"Why do they have to be so close to the generator?" Sonic asked to himself so quietly that they didn't hear him.

"How much longer?!" demanded another metarex stomping on the ground.

"Patience…," Blue Sycamore said holding up his hand for silence.

Sonic hopped to another bush. The leaves made a little noise when he dashed into it. Blue Sycamore whipped around and looked at the bush Sonic was in. He began to approach the bush. Sonic held his breath.

"Well, greetings hedgehog! Don't suppose we could chat?" asked Blue Sycamore to the trembling blue hedgehog behind the bush.

"A tea party with one of my enemies and having a nice chat? I don't think so!" Sonic cried.

"What exactly were you doing back here?" asked Blue Sycamore. The rest of the metarex had gathered around Sonic and had him surrounded.

"Just doing some stuff… Like trying to find one of those chaos emeralds that I believe you have," Sonic squeaked.

"Well, I don't think that's the truth. You were going to turn on the generator. Although, we destroyed it. No need to thank us," the leader said. Sonic sighed.

"I should've known…"

"Anyway, I do believe that you would look better tied up and used as a Christmas tree. I have heard that the holidays are coming around. Troops, tie him up with a string of lights and put a partridge on his head. We may get to toss him in a lake later and drown him. Get moving!" yelled Blue Sycamore.

"Killed while being used as a Christmas tree! What a way to go…," Sonic said.

"Indeed. Now be quiet!"

Before Sonic knew it, he was tangled up in a strand of lights. He stood there with an annoyed look on his face. He finally realized that the metarex leader wasn't that frightening. He was just so "nice" that it made him sick. He had great skills and was definitely not as mean as most at least. A little bit better of a villain than Black Maple.

They all sat in a quiet anticipation. He saw Zaira off in the distance. Calculating the right time to strike. She smirked as if she had an idea. She nodded to Blue Sycamore. He nodded back. Sonic figured that they weren't telling him something. Zaira launched herself forward towards the force field. Sonic figured that Kaira was going to strengthen it when Zaira made contact. Although she did something completely different. She swerved away at two centimeters from smashing herself into it. She grinned and waved at her sister. The force field suddenly looked weaker. Sonic flinched.

"She's playing with us!" Knuckles exclaimed. He shook his fist at her.

"No, she's come up with a plan that has worked. She was using herself to weaken Kaira's force field. Because she made it stronger, she's losing power faster. This is bad!" cried Cosmic.

"Chao!" cried Fury and Cheese in sync.

"Well, what now?" asked Tails.

"Where's Sonic?" asked Amy hopefully.

"What's your plan Blue Sycamore?!" demanded Sonic who was now tied up in a string of lights. The robot shook his head and waved his pointer finger at Sonic in the form of Sonic's finger wag. Sonic looked offended.

"THE FINGER WAG IS MY GIG!" Sonic yelled. The metarex army giggled.

"It's soon going to be mine."

Zaira pointed at Blue Sycamore and he nodded. They burst into the side of the house. Sonic could hear a bunch of screams from his friends.

"It's an ambush!" cried Jack.

"Everybody! Out of the building!" yelled Gold.

They all flocked outside of the giant mansion. They then stopped when they saw Zaira fluttering in front of them. She glared at them with menacing eyes and looked as if she were going to swoop down from the sky and carry them away one by one.

"Uh… Guys? I think we're a little stuck…," Rabby said staring forward awkwardly.

"It's either her or those robots!" Vector exclaimed.

"There's too many darn people trying to kill us!" Knuckles yelled.

"Let them go! I should be the one you want to get rid of!" Sonic persisted.

"Ha! Us metarex do have a grudge against you, but Master Zaira has one grudge in particular. Well, actually two," Blue Sycamore replied to the blue hedgehog with a shrugged.

"Let me guess, Shadow and Kaira?" she asked.

"You know more than you let on. Yes. Now be quiet! The final confrontation should happen here and now…"

There was a rumbling noise that came from beneath all of their feet. They all looked beneath their feet but disappeared into the ground before they could figure out what was happening. Everyone except for the bad guys. Even Sonic disappeared.

"Blue Sycamore, did we set up a plan for ground swallowing up all of our enemies?" asked Zaira.

"No."

"We didn't?"

"I don't think so…"

"Oh… Well, I didn't want to have a fight yet anyway. We need to summon the metaltrons. I was just playing with them. I thought that maybe I could hold them captive for a night, but no. The ground had to eat them!" Zaira snapped to herself.

"Er… Right…"

Of course, it wasn't really the ground that had gotten them out of that predicament. It was actually another one of Dr. Eggman's inventions. Although, do you think that anybody else knew that?

"Where in the world are we?!" asked Tails looking around in bewilderment.

"Tails! Is that you?!" asked Sonic.

"Sonic!" Tails said in surprise.

"My sweetheart?! OH MY GOSH! SONIC!" Amy cried.

The pink hedgehog raced over to Sonic. Sonic groaned. Another violent hug by Amy he guessed. Although, she stopped in front of him obviously fighting the urge to grab him. Sonic was dumbfounded for a second.

"Sonic, what happened?" she asked somehow sounding casual.

"I got tied up by the metarex. The string of lights should be somewhere above us is what I'm guessing. They didn't tell me anything other than most of what happened," Sonic explained to her. She nodded.

"Makes sense."

"Why exactly are you not tackling me?" asked Sonic finally addressing the elephant in the room. She looked up at him with somewhat serious eyes.

"This entire situation that we were dragged into, it got me wondering. Is there time anymore to not concentrate on what really matters? We are in a serious situation that only we can stop. I told myself, I can still love you and tackles you, but only after this is finished… No matter how hard it is…," she explained to him.

"It just doesn't seem like you!" Sonic said still hardly able to believe the sudden personality change.

"If it's what must be done, I'll do it," Amy told him.

"Well, it is indeed quite the great chat you two are having, but we really must consider what we are going to do," a voice said from behind them. It was Eggman.

"So, she let you off the hook," said Sonic.

"Barely. You know, I've met her before. She wasn't at all like the new her. The last time I saw her, she was confused and unsure. Anytime I said something she would almost seem distant, but she did always have a thing for Shadow," he answered showing no hostility.

"You met her?" asked Tails.

"Yes. Have you noticed anything different about her anyone?" asked Eggman looking at everyone.

"Yes. I have."

Everyone looked over at him. Out of everyone in the room, Shadow had been the one to go through the strangest experiences. It was all because of the fact that Zaira likes him and used to always be hanging around him, but now, not as much (they thought).

 _He can't say anything! He can't say anything! Not yet! Not now! If they know, they'll approach Vivilock with what they know! If they do that, that'll mean that their destruction is for sure. Please Shadow, don't!_

Shadow's ear twitched almost as if he heard her silent plea. Zaira was surprised.

 _I'll see what I can do._

Now Zaira was really freaked out. Who was talking to her?! Then it dawned on her. The voice was Shadow's mind speaking to her. There was no doubt about it. Shadow was the spirit of the prophecy who would bring her out of the world of being a ghost.

 _Sh-Shadow?_

Shadow didn't answer her this time. He simply walked up to Eggman. Nobody else in the room knew what just happened.

"I knew her best. She was the leader of the metaltrons who had evil plots that would never end. Although, then she met me. Something about that started to change her.

 _I saw you. Everything._

"She's experienced my whole life I'm sure because she was bored. However, after that trip to her base which she told me about, her personality began to constantly change. I didn't really know her objectives anymore. Almost as if I've impacted her so deeply that she changed. Once we were teleported to the human world, I'll bet she slammed the door on herself. She convinced herself that she couldn't change and would get world destruction no matter what it took. That is what I think, but the last time we met up, she only looked at me with her eyes with the burning fire of rage. Every time I've ever seen her, she never looked at me like that. That's all I know," Shadow said telling as much of the truth he could, but leaving them in the dark about the full truth.

"You've reached the same conclusion I have! Terrific. That'll make time go by faster. We aren't going to get out of this unless if we stop her. All we've been doing is stalling, but we do need to fight the real fight at some point," Eggman told them.

"We can't stay here forever…," Runner commented.

"Indeed. Why haven't you decided to fight her yet?" asked Eggman.

"This," Amy answered holding up the colorless emerald.

"That must be what a color emerald is. It looks sort of powerless. I'm guessing that it hasn't found its vessel yet. Since it hasn't, it looks sort of dead. I do believe that you should hear me out on another thing," Eggman said.

"You know of the color emeralds?" asked Pink.

"Yes. Like I said, I have met Zaira before. She told me something really important about the color emeralds."

 _Did I?_

"She said that love can trigger the color emeralds. I said that I wanted to take over Shadow's, but she told me that I'd have to really love Shadow to be able to activate it. That got me to start studying it. Turns out the color emeralds are triggered when someone feels very strongly about something. That's why they only choose certain people. I'm guessing that you all have found the vessels for the color emeralds other than that one," Eggman explained.

 _Oh yeah. I did say that._

"Now, let's say that Sonic here had a really strong bond with the person who owned the color emerald. If they liked him back with the equal strength, Sonic would be able to be a temporary vessel for the emerald. Make sense?" asked Eggman.

"I'm a vessel? Quit making me feel like a boat!" snapped Sonic.

"Whatever! That doesn't matter now. You don't have the person who is the one destined for this emerald, so we need to find the one with a strong bond with the one who does.

 _The only ones who'd be able to even have a chance would be Rouge and Shadow. Shadow… Would he do the trick? We do have a strong, if not strange, bond. Maybe he could…_

Nobody in the room said anything. Rouge looked over at Shadow. Shadow stared at the floor. There was nobody else. Rouge nudged him. Shadow still didn't move. Rouge leaned over and whispered in his ear: "It's the only chance we have now. You."

Shadow finally looked over. He understood the circumstances and what was at stake. If not him, who else. It wasn't like the really Zaira was going to randomly appear to help guide the way. Shadow finally nodded.

 _Zaira, do you really know if this'll work?_

 _No. I don't._

Shadow shook his head half annoyed. He stepped up to the emerald.

"Shadow, what are you doing? I'd doubt that you'd have a strong bond with this person," Sonic said.

"I still have to give this a shot."

 _Color emerald, don't let me down._

He lifted it up in his hands. It at first didn't do anything. When Shadow looked deeper, it had a little spark in it. He triggered the emerald.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

 **The Flame of Color**

"Shadow? How?!" demanded Orange.

"Apparently, he has a strong bond with whoever that emerald belongs to," Cream answered.

"Chao!" Fury and Cheese agreed together.

The emerald in Shadow's hands lit up and was a bright emerald green. Everyone recognized it. Everyone finally figured it out.

"It's emerald green! That emerald belongs to Zaira!" Tails yelled.

"I figured. That would be the only reason why Shadow would obsess over something that seems pointless," Rouge said.

"If that is Zaira's, why is it glowing?" asked Eggman.

"Why are you surprised?" asked Knuckles to Eggman.

"She said to me that Shadow would never use the color emeralds to save her."

 _That is true. At the time, Shadow wasn't too keen on me, but now I see he does feel something. Amazing._

Shadow could feel the power flood into his body strengthening the other emerald's power. He felt the universe completely in his control. It was time to settle it. No more stalling. No more running away. The emerald had the power. They all did. Only one thing left to do. Fight Vivilock.

Well, what are we waiting for? She would want us to fight now instead of putting it off," Shadow stated.

His heart seemed to power up again. He felt strongly about obtaining justice and battling. He felt himself float off of the ground and levitate. It wasn't his shoes that were doing it… He was flying.

"Wow, Shadow! You can fly!" Amy exclaimed.

"Technically, I always could, but this is the power that she's given me, so I'm going to use it," Shadow replied to her.

We all will fight with the power of the color emeralds. It'd be nice if we had the chaos emeralds to help us," Sonic stated.

"I think I may be able to help with that," a fox said from behind them. She had two tails and rainbow stripes. Her gold eyes seemed to sparkle and she held a large majestic wand. Rainbowta. Runner, Sunshine, Apple, R.T, B.T, Cosmic, Jack, Daisy, Pink, Orange, Fury, and Gold all fell to their knees in astonishment (So many people…). Apple stood back up and ran over to her.

"R-Rainbowta?" he stuttered.

"Indeed young Apple. I haven't been kidnapped by the metarex at all. I only had a vision a long time ago about the prophecy. It said that I had to make everyone think that I had run away or been captured. If I didn't, I would have had to experience you never getting the color emerald and being defeated by Zaira. I made this place actually. Not Dr. Eggman. I allowed him to stay here to hide from her and to study the color emeralds more. Don't you have the chaos emeralds? I can teleport them here, but only if I'm within a close enough range," Rainbowta explained as if she had read everyone's minds.

"Great! Random people are showing up now! What am I going to do…," asked Knuckles to himself.

"Just don't say anything. Be glad that they're not tacos," Amy replied.

"TACOS?!" screamed Sonic and Knuckles in terror.

"Did I miss something?" asked Shadow staring at Knuckles and Sonic.

"You had to be there to really get it. It was sort of terrifying. They almost carried off Tails and Sonic!" Amy replied.

"Tacos?" asked Shadow completely lost.

"I'll explain later."

"Well, we can't do anything by standing around here! Let's do this!" yelled Rabby.

Most of the people were still either astounded, confused, terrified, chatting or trying to explain things that are impossible to understand. Rabby sighed.

"Or at least… When we can…"

Shadow felt the power of the two color emeralds surge through his body as he looked up at where his opponent was. Directly up. However, everyone agreed that they had to rest up before the battle. It wasn't what he wanted to do. He couldn't sleep. Not with the power of a Drayan and Hyper Shadow running through him without stopping. Sonic suggested that he tested out his powers, but to do that would ruin all the fun. He was hovering off of the ground waiting for sleep to take hold of him, but he could also hear Zaira's constant thoughts in his mind. Wondering about him, wondering about the next day, wondering about everything. She was restless. He didn't blame her. To be dead for over a week was difficult and boring beyond belief. It was still unnerving that she had been stalking him the entire time.

 _Shadow, would you give your brain a rest already?_

 _How when you're always talking to me?_

 _Good point. I can't talk. I can only think. I don't grow tired, I don't grow older, I can only see and think…_

 _Only I can hear you._

 _Yes._

 _Stalker._

 _It's not my fault!_

 _Heh._

Shadow shakes his head. Their conversations were often like that. At least, it wasn't the randomness that it was when they had met. Meter sticks and leather jackets. He didn't understand anything back then. Her real feelings, what she really wanted, anything.

 _Shadow, why are you being so nice?_

 _Quit reading my mind!_

 _What am I supposed to do? Go see what Sonic is dreaming about?_

 _No, wait. Do that right now._

 _Okay._

Her presence left him for a second and returned. He didn't know how he could sense it. He just could.

 _What was it about?_

 _He dreamt that he was pounding the stuffing out of me like I was a stuffed animal._

 _Why can't he show more respect?_

 _Why can't I be real?_

 _If you're not real, how can I hear you?_

Shadow remembered the words from his dream. "The link". What link? A link that connected their minds? How was that link made?

 _The link was probably made because you were thinking about me too much. I was thinking about you too much. Because we were thinking about each other, our minds became connected._

 _Stop reading my mind!_

 _Sorry._

There was a long silence. Suddenly a late night conversation sounded more interesting than nothing.

 _You should try being me some time._

 _UGH! You just-! Whatever._

 _I'm lonely. I'm stuck in a place that'll have no end. I'm forever trapped. There's only one way out of this place which is almost impossible._

 _How? I'll do it._

 _Would you? Well… I have to find a new vessel that isn't already claimed or too well banged up for me to enter. In other words, I need a body that's not already dead or already possessed. I can be within another person, but I can't take control. That's why I don't want you to kill or destroy Vivilock._

 _So that's why. You want your regular form back. Although, if it's impossible to reach the state you're at, how did Vivilock reach that point?_

 _It was a punishment. She did something so terrible when she was alive, so she was sentenced to a long forever of torture. She found me many years later. Sick of waiting and wanting revenge on the people who did this to her, she used me to gain strength. She took it from my anger and used it to power her soul. Once strong enough, she forced me away from my own self._

 _How rude._

 _Help me Shadow… I don't want to be alone anymore… I don't want to make my favorite past time scaring the sense out of people! It's torture…_

 _A torture one like you doesn't deserve._

 _No. I deserve it. Everything I did to you. Everything I did to everyone._

 _Quit beating yourself up about it._

 _Why are you talking like this? You are the darkest character. You're suddenly…, lightening up it seems…_

 _It's because I know that this wouldn't have happened if someone did give you a chance._

…

 _I'm giving you, Zaira, that chance right now to hopefully prevent this from happening again._

 _To think that you once hated me. I honestly don't know what to say._

 _I have an idea. Maybe thanks?!_

 _Oh! Sorry! Uh… Thank you, Shadow the Hedgehog…_

Shadow figured that was enough chatter. He was finally able to experience some quiet and not another peep from Zaira. He finally fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, Shadow felt as if he were suddenly weaker. His power was wearing off. He knew they should've gone back to fight Zaira while they had the chance. He couldn't be the vessel forever.

"We've gotta get moving."

Everyone saddled up and was leaving with Rainbowta, Sonic, and Shadow leading. Shadow could still feel Zaira's restless soul floating around with powerful emotions. Half anticipation, half boredom. She also had a little bit of hope that she would be herself after that day. Shadow still wasn't sure how he was supposed to meet the conditions to bring her back into reality. He really would do anything because that was his mission. It was the whole reason he was the spirit. His soul is what should save Zaira, but the prophecy did say that there is a strong chance of there not being a victory for them. That would mean that the color emeralds would be dead, Zaira would be lost in her never ending torture, and the universe would be destroyed.

"I know that you feel me… I feel you… Tell me something… What's the probability of winning?" asked Shadow.

"Me?" asked Sonic.

"No," Shadow replied.

 _Slowly decreasing… She's using her new powers as a Drayan to see into the future…_

"That's all we need," Shadow replied with a roll of his eyes. Sonic still didn't know who he was talking to.

Vivilock's ears twitched and she looked up. Sonic was coming. She readied herself and her two armies of robots. Sonic couldn't help but be amazed at the size of the armies. Vivilock could also sense Zaira's spirit in the realm between the Spirit World and reality. Forever silenced… She looked up at them and laughed. They looked so puny. All but Shadow. When she saw the emerald green color emerald within his hand, she felt a little unnerved. It was still no matter, however. She was more powerful than all of them combined.

"Who's ready to power up?" asked Sonic feeling his color emerald beginning activate because of his strong want to battle and feel victory. This power sent him up into the air, and he became Super Sonic. Within them all, they had yellow Super forms… Except for the pink Knuckles. However, due to the chaos emeralds being so close by, as well as the Master Emerald, Sonic became Hyper Sonic!

"Well… That was fast…," Super Rabby commented.

"We all feel the need to battle Zaira. That's why it happened so fast is what I'm going to guess," Tails explained.

"Why am I pink?!" demanded Knuckles.

"All men wear pink Knuckles," Rouge explained to him. She also couldn't help but laugh at the way he looked. A serious echidna with a pink Super form.

Vivilock looked unimpressed. "Well, you all still look puny. We have a pink echidna, yellow, fuzzy animals, and- What's this? A knight in shining armor? Shiny. I'm going to take a guess here. You're Kaira," Vivilock said.

Everyone looked over at the Drayan. She looked like Sonic in his Super Knight form as King Arthur from Sonic and the Black Knight. She had longer hair and wore a helmet over her face. She drew a large sword that had a wind marking on it. She also got out a shield that bore the symbol of a spirit. The sword of the wind and the shield of the spirit. Her wings seemed larger and more majestic. This was no Super form.

"This is my form when I use the color emeralds. Like when Lily becomes her true form, I too become my true form. My name may be the same, but you are no longer at the top of your game. Surrender to me now…," Kaira told her.

Vivilock laughed. "You really expect me to?! HA! How predictable! Come on… Fight me…"

"As you wish…," Kaira hissed. She drew her sword of the wind and raced at her evil double. Vivilock summoned the metarex to counter her attack. Although, for some reason, she didn't seem at all concerned for the well being of the metarex. Kaira simply destroyed them all like it was nothing. Left and right she tore them apart. She was unaware of what Vivilock was doing. She wanted for her to get rid of the metarex.

"Kaira stop now!" Knuckles shouted. It was too late. All the metarex other than the leader was gone. Blue Sycamore looked down at the ground and saw the parts of his fallen army. What had happened? They were so strong!

"Why…? Why did you send them out if you knew they wouldn't survive?!" demanded Blue Sycamore.

"It was all part of the plan… I weakened your army so that they would be easier to defeat. Once defeated, their energy that was not used will be sent to me. That way, I'd be more powerful! HA!" Vivilock explained.

"How could you!? Why would you?! I trusted you! You used that trust to gain the advantage of controlling my army! Then you destroyed them all! How could-"

Vivilock cut his sentence off short. She grabbed hold of his neck and evaporated the leader. Everyone gasped in horror except for the metaltrons and Vivilock.

"Zaira, how could you?!" demanded Sonic.

"He's completely gone…," was all Tails could say.

"He was disposable! Now… Give me the color emeralds and accept your fate!" Vivilock snapped.

"Never! No matter what you may do, we will never give up! I've seen what you can do with your terrible powers, but the time where you roam around making havoc is at an end! I hope you're ready for a good fight to remember…," Kaira retorted.

"First…," Vivilock said. She snapped her fingers. The metaltrons fired up.

"Activating self-destruct sequence… Will self-destruct in ten seconds," all the metaltrons said in sync.

"Now my pets, fly right towards them! Self-destruct in their faces!" Vivilock shouted as she pointed to them.

"Very well," they all said. They flew towards the Super team. They reached five seconds…

"AH! Everyone move!" yelled Runner.

Runner, Shadow, and Sonic were out of the way, but the others couldn't move that fast. Kaira flew in front of them and held up her shield. It expanded and surrounded them causing for the explosion to be harmless. Vivilock's power continued to grow… She sucked up the life energy from the metaltrons as well…

"Now fight me…," Vivilock taunted.

"I'll hold her off. Think up a strategy!" Kaira told them. She flew off into the sky with her sword drawn.

"What are we supposed to do?! She completely absorbed all that power from those robot armies! How do we beat her?!" demanded Tails trying to calculate a logical way to take her out.

"I don't know! Don't ask me!" Sunshine said clinging to her brother Runner.

"Is it all going to be over...?" asked Amy to herself.

"Don't lose heart yet! We must continue on with the fight! If we don't, she'll beat us once and for all! If she still had a weakness for Shadow, I'd ask him to flatter her, but she's different now. We must create a plan!" Sonic told them all.

 _I'd love to see you try to flatter me. It totally wouldn't work!_

 _You've got very pretty eyes._

 _Ha ha…_

"Why were we given the color emeralds in the first place?" asked Shadow.

"To make the prophecy come true," Amy replied.

"So, why would we get the color emeralds at all if we weren't capable of defeating her?"

Tails thought for a second and brightened up. "You're right! We must be able to do it! I know what we have to do!" Tails exclaimed.

"What?" asked Sonic.

"We must use the color emeralds all together. It'll be The Flame of Color!" Tails explained.

"Why didn't I think of that?" asked Sonic.

Knuckles smirked and pointed at Sonic. "You're too slow!" he laughed. Sonic shot him a stern glare.

Kaira, up in the air, was slashing her sword as if there was no tomorrow. Not in a crazy random fashion, but in a crazy skillful fashion. She managed to make contact with Vivilock's wing once, but she only healed it soon after. There they were, sending blows left and right. Vivilock spun away from a sword attack and aimed a kick at Kaira while she was off-balance. Kaira flew out of the way with a millisecond to spare. She looked up as the sun was covered by a cloud. It was also beginning to set causing the sky to turn red.

"Well, what nice weather… It seems all too appropriate!" Vivilock said.

"Yeah. It is. It means that today is the day you go down!" Kaira snapped. They flew at each other again only not moving out of the way. They pushed at each other as hard as they could. The massive amounts of force that was built up sent them flying backward in the sky.

"Kaira! You can't do it alone!" yelled Tails running towards her.

"Don't you think I know that?!" Kaira retorted with one eye on Tails and the other on Vivilock.

"We need to combine the powers of the color emeralds together! That just might be enough!" Sonic yelled to try and help Tails.

"I don't know… It sounds too simple!" she exclaimed.

"We have to try! It may be the only way!" Sonic yelled to her.

"The only way…, Fine. Get into the formation!" she commanded.

"The formation…," yawned Vivilock.

"The formation…?" asked Knuckles with a clueless look on his face.

Kaira rolled her eyes and pointed behind her. "Get into order depending on what color you have! I'm rainbow so I go in the middle!"

"Oh… Okay!"

They all gathered and built up their energy. It all gathered in front of the rainbow emerald. A large ball of energy big enough to make a supernova appeared. Vivilock didn't do anything. She knew they couldn't pull it off. There was only one way to be able to blow her away with the emeralds. It would be if they had the whole gang. When they all released the ball at her, she was ready for it. She held her hand out and when her hand made contact with it, it evaporated into little bits. Nothing of it was left.

"What? I don't get it! The color emeralds all together were supposed to work! Why didn't it work?!" demanded Sonic.

"I think I know why…," Shadow started. When everyone looked at him for an explanation, he decided not to keep it in anymore.

 _Should I tell them?_

 _There's no point in hiding it anymore. There is no threat from them knowing now. Tell them._

 _Very well._

"The reason this isn't working is because Zaira isn't among us," Shadow stated.

"I thought that was obvious! She's on that side!" Runner snapped.

"No. I mean she isn't in existence."

"What do you mean I'm not **right here**?" asked Vivilock beginning to get irritated. She launched an attack on them. They only scattered.

"I mean, that she forced Zaira out of her own body! She's a ghost wandering around in a never-ending world of torture that was meant for her!" Shadow shouted pointing at Vivilock.

"What?!" demanded everyone.

"We're not at full power because there is no Zaira anymore!"

"Well, I see you've figured out my little secret! None of my armies knew! None of you knew… The only one who was able to figure it out was Shadow! Rouge did get a little preview of me as well. She saw Zaira begging to her for help when she noticed that she was in danger of me! There was never a chance for her. When she met Shadow, I already knew that she wasn't going to cut it. I had plans she never knew about. Ones that were far greater than hers… The all ended with the destruction of everything!" she announced.

"How did you know?!" question Tails.

"I and Zaira have this link. I can't explain it, but we talk to each other through this link. I'm her last hope. She's been like this for a whole week. You must understand that only a large force can remove a being who has a vessel and not damage the vessel in the process so that someone else can then take it over," Shadow explained.

"He's only told me about this because he knows that I won't blab to her about it. That's why we haven't told you about it. If you were to tell her, that would instantly put all of your lives in danger," Rouge added.

"That's how you knew so much and why you didn't tell us much about anything!" Amy realized.

"That's correct," Shadow said.

"If she's not Zaira, who is she?" asked Tails.

As they were flying there making realizations, they didn't realize that their enemy had become a completely different being. Her hair turned white, her wings turned blue and feathery, eyes turned gold, she had fangs, she became covered in fur except for her wings, she grew a lion tail and a beak with bird talons with sharp claws. She grew to be very large. About ten times larger than Sonic. Her shadow fell among them all. She was actually a griffin. A huge griffin.

"Vivilock. You can call me Vivilock…"


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

 **Sonic Spirit Wind**

"Sh-She's a griffin?!" cried Apple in terror. He grabbed onto his brother Orange. Pink, Runner, and Sunshine also were over hugging Orange almost in terror.

"Why is everyone clinging to me?!" demanded Orange.

"Do you know why I was put into that horrid prison for eternity? Did Zaira tell you that?" asked Vivilock to Shadow. He shook his head.

 _I actually did know. Most of it anyway…_

 _You knew?! Why didn't you tell me?!_

 _I don't like talking about it._

"I thought so. Tell you what, how about I tell you a little story about it?" asked Vivilock ruffling her feathers and raising what fur she had.

"A s-story?" asked Apple.

"Yes… What do you puny people on the ground say?!" the griffin demanded growling and showing off all of her fangs.

"We'd love a story! You go right on ahead!" Jack squeaked.

Vivilock raised her ears and looked over at him. She swooped to the ground and began to slowly approach him. Jack made an attempt to run, but Vivilock snatched him from the ground and held him up to her level.

"Yes… A story… If that's what you want, YOU GOT IT!" Vivilock screeched as she threw Jack against the ground. He was knocked out and lay on the ground. Cosmic, Fury, Daisy, Gold, and Rainbowta raced over.

"Is he okay?!" demanded Rainbowta.

"Yeah, he's fine… Might have a minor concussion is all. He'll live," Gold answered her.

"Anyway… On to the story… Once upon a time, there was a griffin named Vivilock who was among the wisest and most clever griffins in her tribe. She would always want the best for the tribe as well. However, one day there was a terrible accident that was made by the tribe… There was a horrible griffin in the tribe who killed my father who only blamed it on me! I got into trouble and got my shiny white track record tarnished a great deal… They said that I was to be sentenced to exile for my foolishness! After that, I decided that there was no need to be good anymore and go by the rules… Here's what happened… I came back that night and killed him… However, someone caught me… That very morning, they used their strongest spell on me… Sent me to the place between dead and alive forever because they feared that I was too strong and violent for my own good. None of this would have happened if it weren't for him! So, because they blamed me for something I didn't do first, I'll destroy the universe whether if the universe needed to be destroyed or not to show how unfair they were. That's my story!" Vivilock hissed. Everyone was silent when she finished her story. Shadow finally spoke up to break the silence.

"I get that you were mad about the guy killing your father and stuff, but did you have to go all Princess Bride and seek revenge by killing and destroying the rest of the universe?" he asked.

"Who are you to talk?! You've never felt it!" she hissed.

"Wrong. I've felt it. I nearly destroyed a whole planet because they killed someone who I had grown very close to. I tried to avenge her, but then I realized that wasn't what she really wanted. It turned out that I was making a huge mistake. I ended up saving the world rather than destroying it. You can always save the universe by stopping because it's just not worth it or what your father would have wanted, or you can continue to try to take us out. Your choice," Shadow offered.

Vivilock was silent for a long moment before she answered. Her lion tail curled slightly. "You think that I would just stop? Well, I WON'T!" she bellowed aiming a claw strike at Shadow. She made contact on his arm. He yelled in pain and shock.

"Shadow!" yelled Sonic flying towards him as fast as he could. Vivilock only sent him flying backward with her tail.

"He was asking for this! You wanted to see me reformed, but what are you going to do now?! BEG?! No! I'm staying this way. You may have felt something related to my pain, but I'm not gonna become someone like you!" Vivilock snapped.

 _Shadow! Are you okay?!_

 _No… It hurts like crazy, and I'm sure that I'm going to lose a lot of blood from that. If you listen to all of my nerves, you can hear them screaming!_

 _You're cool even when in pain._

"What now?! He can't put up with a blow like that for long without medical attention! Rainbowta, can you do anything?!" demanded Sonic.

"I'm out of range! He's still flying! I can't use magic if he's out of range!" Rainbowta yelled in reply.

"What do we do?!" demanded Amy to Sonic.

 _Sonic Spirit Wind…_

"What?" asked Sonic wondering how he heard that.

 _Sonic Spirit Wind!_

Sonic wondered what the voice was all about and where it was coming from. He decided not to question it. Shadow can hear strange forces like that! Maybe he could, too! He summoned the power of the chaos and color emeralds to him. All of the thirteen other were drawn to him except for Shadow who was clinging to reality like there was no tomorrow. He was fading into unconsciousness fast…

"Sonic, what are you doing?" asked Tails.

"A Sonic Spirit Wind!" Sonic replied. He looked to Shadow and realized something. If he hit Vivilock, he'd hit Shadow! How could he avoid that? What other way was there?! "Shadow, what about you?!"

Zaira had already explained everything to him. There was no way he was going to let this one chance slip by them! Even if it meant that he'd have to give up his own life again, he'd go through with it.

"Just do it Sonic! It's the only way! It'll suck her soul back out of her! Zaira told me so. That was how they got her removed in the first place! If you want to save the world, you'll do this," Shadow yelled.

Sonic held his breath. This was the only way to do it. He gathered up the power into one point in space and time. He focussed all of his power and was able to make it into a strong wind. It gusted towards Vivilock.

"What?! What are you doing?! You can't do this to me! Not again! Not again!" she cried. Although, she then glared at Shadow. "At least, I'm taking you with me…," she said beginning to get weaker.

"This'll be worth it. Right?" asked Shadow. He could feel his body grow numb as he began to lose control. Vivilock couldn't continue flying anymore and crashed to the ground.

"I'll get you for this one day…," was her last words. Her body formed back into Zaira's for she had lost her original body and only stole Zaira's. Shadow weakly tried to reach out to Zaira somehow with his mind. Their link was growing stronger.

 _You shouldn't be doing this! You're already banged up! You won't be able to return to the land of the living!_

 _I don't care about that! I'm not even going to be alive much longer. I just wanted to give you a warning._

 _A warning._

 _Vivilock's going to be coming your way. Your body is still in good shape. Take it while you still can before she does._

 _What about you?!_

 _Dr. Eggman will make another me… I don't matter anymore…_

 _It won't be the same! You're letting yourself face the torture of forever!_

… _I shall see you even if you won't. Don't wait. Don't wait for her to attack._

 _I'll sooner stick through this eternity with you and watch the planet blow up because of Vivilock than leave you stranded here. If I go, you are coming with me._

Shadow knew there was no more conversation to be done. He felt as if he had drifted away. He had drifted away from everything and he almost couldn't stand seeing himself on the ground. He could see everyone race around the two of them.

 _Sorry guys… Can't speak, can't touch, but I can think. I'm sorry I had to leave like this…_

 _Well, what took you so long?_

 _What?!_

Shadow turned to see Vivilock glaring at him. He took a step back. He knew she was coming. Someone he hadn't seen in so long jumped in front of him and glared at Vivilock.

 _I am Zaira. I'm no longer the evil being I once was. I won't let you steal me away again…_

Due to possible difficulties with identifying who is talking, I'll type it out so that they are talking to each other. Just use your imagination and imagine that they are thinking everything.

"Well, isn't that nice. The battle I had with Sonic wasn't the real battle… It ends now!" Vivilock snapped.

"Now?" asked Shadow.

"Three leave the ring, two come out…," Vivilock told them.

"What do you mean two come out?! Just one!" Shadow argued.

"Nope. You aren't dead," Zaira explained.

The thought then occurred to Shadow that he wasn't stranded there. He wasn't dead. He is immortal, so he would still be able to save himself from such a world. Although, how would they get back before Vivilock?

Sonic was the first to race over to Shadow. He scanned the hedgehog over. Tails joined him with Amy and Knuckles. Tails took a closer look at the gash in his arm.

"It looks like his arm would have been fine if he didn't get hit by your little wind attack," Tails said.

"It's what he wanted!" Sonic objected. He wasn't taking the blame for Shadow's injuries.

"Amy, check his pulse!" Tails commanded.

Amy checked. She didn't hear or feel anything.

"I figured. Although, he's not dead. I know that. He's immortal. Shadow's just drifting," Tails explained.

"Drifting?"

"It's the word I just came up with for being removed from your body."

"Oh."

They all waited in a long silence. Nothing was happening. Sonic looked to Rainbowta to see if her magic could save Shadow. She shook her head.

Shadow wasn't just drifting. He was in a battle position ready to take on Vivilock with Zaira next to him. Vivilock smirked. When they came at her, they'd go right through her. They couldn't fight.

"Don't you get it? We're ghosts in a way. We can't touch each other. I've honestly got a better idea for how we settle this. A competition of knowledge. I was the wisest griffin once! You don't stand a chance! Although, I don't want the Drayan. I want the hedgehog!" Vivilock shouted pointing at Shadow.

"Why me?!" he demanded.

"She's a Drayan. That's reason enough," Vivilock explained with a wave of her hand at Zaira as if to dismiss her from the conversation.

"Are you saying that I'm too smart?" asked Zaira.

"Be quiet! I challenge you to a duel of knowledge, Shadow! Topic: Anything Sonic related. Zaira will be the referee. She knows everything. You start…"

Shadow thought for a second he came up with something. "Who was the priestess who guarded the master emerald in ancient times?"

"Tikal the echidna," Vivilock replied.

"Correct!" Zaira announced.

"Be less enthusiastic about it!" commanded Vivilock.

"Correct…," Zaira said with a sigh.

"How many times has Sonic become Dark Sonic? I'm not including fan projects," Vivilock explained.

"Once. It was in Sonic X when a metarex leader was threatening his friends Chris and Cosmo," Shadow stated.

"Yeah… He's right…," Zaira yawned.

The two of them went back and forth each demonstrating increasingly spectacular knowledge of the Sonic games. Shadow knew that he had to think of something before Zaira fell asleep from boredom. He thought up something.

"Was Sonic always the way he is now?" asked Vivilock.

"Depends on what Sonic universe you are in. In Sonic Underground, he was always like that. However, in a comic, it says that the way that Sonic became the way he is now is by running so fast as a regular hedgehog with shoes made from Dr. Robotnik that he turned blue and kept the shoes to continue going fast," Shadow replied.

"He's right…"

"Very impressive," Vivilock stated.

Shadow took a deep breath. They'd been there for a while now. He hoped that the question would work.

"How many times have I thought about Maria, Molly, and Zaira?" he asked.

"Ooh… Toughy…," Zaira said.

Vivilock thought for a second. From the smug look on Zaira's face, she could tell she figured it out. Vivilock tried to gather up all that she knew about Shadow. Although, the thing was that he couldn't stop thinking about those three people! She ruffled her feathers and said the following words: "I don't know."

"That's it! Shadow the Hedgehog is the winner! The truth is that he thinks about us so much, that the number is too big to talk about! Now, stay true to your promise…," Zaira said.

"Who said that I promised?!" demanded Vivilock making a dash for Shadow who was the closest to them (the body. Not the soul Shadow).

Zaira opened her mouth to yell something although, she forgot she couldn't speak. Instead of yelling, she looked over at Shadow. She felt a feeling in the pit of her stomach. She could feel it. With a deep breath, she ran at Shadow (the soul Shadow) and he barely noticed before she sent him flying.

"What are you doing?!" demanded Shadow.

Vivilock stopped and realized what she had done. Shadow landed just in front of Vivilock and in front of himself. Vivilock hissed at Shadow.

"You can't do this! Not now!" she screeched with a voice as mighty as an eagle. Shadow had to cover his ears.

Suddenly, he felt as if he were being dragged back into life it felt. He was latched onto his original body and knew it was too late. He resisted as long as he could.

"Sorry, Shadow! You're more important than I'll ever be! Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog…," Zaira said making a callback on what Maria said to him. She was there. She watched that. Had she felt everything Shadow had? Maybe. Now, she knew for sure what it felt like.

"Wha-?! You can't!" he yelled.

 _This may not be goodbye. If she gets me, you know what to do._

Shadow could persist anymore. He let go. His entire world disappeared and he fell into darkness. A darkness that no one other than he could ever feel. A sharp pain ran up and down his back and side. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes to see the sunlight disappear from the sky. Little stars began to pop out. He tried to sit up. The pain only grew worse and he found himself stuck on the ground.

"Hey, did you hear something?" asked a voice that sounded like Tails.

"I think I did! Shadow?" asked another voice quickly coming closer. It was Sonic. Rouge was with him.

"Shadow!" Rouge exclaimed.

"Yeah…," Shadow stated weakly. He was able to look over at the deep claw marks on his side caused by Vivilock. Tails had bandaged it up and took care of that. It still hurt like crazy, though.

"Shadow, Tails got you all worked on and good news! You should be all better in two weeks!" Sonic chirped happily.

"What about her?" asked Shadow glancing over at Zaira a few yards away.

"Her? She's… Uh…," Sonic didn't know how to answer.

"She's not back yet… It's either her or Vivilock… Wait!" Shadow shouted hopping to his feet. Pain dug back at him with raging claws of fire. He fell to his knees and yelled in agony.

"Shadow! Cool off! Stay off of your feet for a while. What is it?" asked Sonic helping Shadow back into a more comfortable position.

"I can still hear her. They're fighting… Fighting in my mind… I…," Shadow continued.

"You can hear them?!" demanded Rouge. She called over everyone else. Once they got over, Shadow explained to them what in the world was going on. They got the picture.

"Well, what can we do?" asked Knuckles.

"I don't think we can do anything…," Tails explained.

Shadow realized with dismay that they all had come out of their super forms. He hardly noticed that he had come out of his as well. His color emerald along with Zaira's was on the ground. The other twelve were put in a little pile on the ground. He grabbed onto the two emeralds daring not to let go. The power didn't flood through him like it did before.

"I don't care if this has turned me into a softie. The prophecy shall never be complete unless if she gets this… I may have become the guy that this entire mess revolves around, but I've gotta do something."

 _Please lend me your power one last time…_

The black emerald lit up dimly. A pain shot through his side again. He gripped the ground. Everyone else was talking among themselves until they realized that the emerald was working again. They watched in surprise and amazement as Shadow's fur turned blue with red stripes rather than white like Hyper Shadow. He'd never had a form like this. His side was mended by the power of the emerald and he could see all realms of space and time at an endless distance. He could see the world of life and death as well as into them. Sonic almost envied his super cool form.

"Alright… I wasn't expecting that…," was all Shadow said in response to his sudden transformation. He looked back at Sonic. "Everyone, get those emeralds back. Our fight was cut short.

"Okay!" Amy answered running back to get them.

Shadow was able to step into the world that Zaira was in. He saw Vivilock pinning her down by her wings. They were both evenly matched because she didn't have her powers to save her. Shadow glared at Vivilock and didn't say anything.

"So, Shadow returns… What's this? Oh… A new form… Let's see how you go down!" she yelled dashing towards him. He held out his hand and caught her beak. He pushed her back with remarkable strength.

"I have more power than you know. You either give up now or I'll make you…," Shadow explained to Vivilock.

"Do you really think I will…?" Vivilock questioned. She stood back up.

"No."

"You are a smart hedgehog! There's no way you can reform me, beat me, or try to make me give up hope! I'll fight forever to get out of this prison of eternity!" she snapped back.

"I had hoped it wouldn't have to come to this…," Shadow sighed.

He signaled to Sonic with his hand. A bright light burst into their realm and circled Shadow. He harnessed the power of the color emeralds within his hands and sent it at Vivilock. She let out a shout of alarm and dodged. She looked behind her and saw what the ball had hit. It hit the ground and turned it into stone.

"Now do you fear me?" asked Shadow almost taunting her with the color emeralds' power.

"I-I… Yo can't give me fear of your rock… I won't be…"

"You can't escape if you are stone…"

Vivilock ran for her life. She dodged every one of Shadow's attacks. She jumped around never in one spot for more than a second. Shadow was trying to aim the best he could. Vivilock was too quick. She began to regain her confidence.

"You're so slow with that silly form! You may be strong! Although, your attacks are a real letdown!" she taunted.

An idea popped into her head. She jumped at a specific spot. When Shadow launched his attack, she easily dodged. He shouted in terror at what he had done. Zaira was knocked out on the ground. He watched, unable to do anything. When the blast made contact, her skin turned hard and cold. She was stone. Vivilock laughed.

"What now my friend?! Are you gonna curl up into a little ball and weep?!" she demanded.

Shadow had officially had enough. He loathed her. There was no way to save her. He lobbed a powerful blast at her without hesitating. She didn't notice it in time and gasped in terror only when it was too late. The blast was so powerful, that when she became a cold, hard statue, the stone crumbled and fell apart into many pieces on the ground. Vivilock was gone.

Shadow turned back to the stone Zaira on the ground. What had he done…? Carefully he carried her back out of the realm. He lay her on the ground.

 _Shadow…?_

Shadow's ears twitched. It was Zaira. She was speaking to him. From the rock? Maybe her soul just took the rock as a vessel and she only couldn't move or leave the rock! He turned back to his normal form. Sonic and the others gathered around her.

 _You are now a rock. Sorry…_

 _A rock?! Hm. Not the first time I guess._

 _Is it not the first time?_

 _Nope. I'm such a good spy because I can turn into rocks. Rock spies are the best spies._

 _Yeah. Although, you don't have Drayan powers. You're a rock._

…

"Is… She dead…?" asked Tails slowly.

"No. She's just in the rock. No… She is the rock. Her soul has accepted that as a vessel. She can't do anything but talk to me now," Shadow answered them.

"Why do you have something to do with everything?! Why not me?!" demanded Sonic getting agitated.

"Because you're not a neutral character. I communicate with both the enemy and the good guys. That's why " Shadow replied.

Sonic only growled with irritation. He backed off. They had no idea what to do now. How do they reverse a rock? Tails thought up something that they could try.

"Do you suppose that the color emeralds could activate again if we have strong enough emotions?" asked Tails.

"How about we get Shadow to kiss her! SONIC 06 ENDING!" Sonic yelled just trying to be mean.

Everybody nearly gagged. No way. Shadow shook his head and his face was bright red. There was no way that was happening.

 _I won't allow it! I WON'T ALLOW IT!_

 _Zaira, be quiet for a second. I'm still trying to recover…_

"There's gotta be another way! I'm sure of it! Rainbowta!" yelled Runner.

Rainbowta shook her head to their disappointment. "There's no way to reverse it with the magic of the color emeralds."

"Can the color emeralds work?!" demanded Tails.

"I guess they could… What about the chaos emeralds for once?" asked Sonic.

"The chaos emeralds…?" asked Sonic sheepishly. They looked around. They were gone again. Shadow sighed.

"Fine… We'll try the color emeralds… Again…," Knuckles answered. He handed Shadow the emerald. Though his feelings were strong, it didn't work. It didn't even light up a little.

"That's weird…," Tails stated grabbing the emerald.

As soon as Tails touched the emerald, it split in half and broke! Tails dropped it to the ground and everyone gasped.

"It broke!" yelled Sunshine in alarm.

"That's a first…," Runner commented.

Shadow looked at the gem almost stunned. He then stomped on it and watched it be crushed into little pieces. Everyone stared in alarm as he crushes the emerald.

"Shadow! Stop it!" Rabby pleaded.

Shadow blocked out everyone. He threw the other emerald on the ground and watched it break in front of him.

 _I'm sorry! I can't do it! What do I do?!_

There was no answer…

 _Zaira?_

Still no answer…

 _Did I just break the link?! Was it the emeralds the whole time?! The fact that I had the emeralds was enough to allow us to communicate! What have I done?!_

Zaira's POV

What happened? At first, it was dark and cold in a world of darkness… A voice did speak to me. Shadow's. He was cut off by something. This is almost worse than being a ghost. I've been turned to stone and yet there is nothing I can do about it.

I continue to wait…, yet nothing comes… Who is there? I can't see, hear, feel, smell, touch, or anything. Forever stuck and without hope? I hope not.

Someone… Help… For once! I know I didn't do anything good to anyone, but I know what I am to do now! Make it stop… Make it stop… Help me…

 **Returning to normal perspective.**

Shadow stormed off in another direction away from everyone. Sonic ran after him. Once Sonic caught up, Shadow turned and glared at him.

"What do you want?!" Shadow demanded.

"I have a question. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" demanded Sonic.

"What's wrong with me?! Good question! I turned Zaira to stone, destroyed our link, and now she's stuck in a cold, dark world and will die there because of me!" Shadow yelled.

"I get that you're mad! It's not your fault! We all go through something like this! Believe me, I have. Getting upset about it solves nothing. What would she want you to do?! What does she want?" asked Sonic.

Shadow thought. For once, he agreed with Sonic. What would she want? Her freedom. How would he do that? He thought back trying to find something useful in his memory. A soul can only dwell within a vessel that wasn't too banged up and wasn't already possessed. That may be it! She can't actually die within a rock. He was making a choice that either resulted in life or death. It was the only way. Either way, she would be, in a way, free.

"Thanks, Sonic… I know what to do now…," Shadow said slowly.

He turned around and ran as fast as he could back to where he was. He almost hated to do this. Running full speed, readying himself, and probably never to love again. Love? What did that have to do with anything? Shadow shook his head. What he was doing was out of… He couldn't pick the perfect word. Not friend. Not out of being a couple. Certainly not an acquaintance. It didn't matter anymore. Goodbye forever possibly until we meet again I suppose. All that mushy stuff.

 _Ker-pow!_

Shadow knew what he had done and knew he was in his right mind. He had destroyed the rock that had been her. There was nothing more he could do. Her soul is freed from the prison it had been in for so long. Although, this was life or death. What was it was all he could wonder as he stared up at the sky knowing that was where she would be.


	21. Final Chapter Preview

**Chapter 20**

 **Farewell Until We Meet Again**

Nothing happened. Shadow left again without another word. He wasn't sure if what he did was right or wrong. Sonic and the others followed slowly behind. Nothing more they could do even if they didn't completely understand Shadow's actions. They had saved the world.

As Sonic sprinted through the trees, he could tell he was being followed. He also knew by who. Sonic screeched to a halt.

"I know you're there. You can come out Kaira. You're stalking me for a reason right?" asked Sonic turned around. Kaira jumped out of the tree she was hiding in.

"I feel a presence in the air. Something familiar that I used to hate. A feeling of envy… This time, though, it's not quite the same kind of envy. I think it's her," she answered.

"What?" asked Sonic.

"She's…"

"Oh my gosh! She's back?! Quick! We must tell-"

Kaira grabbed onto him and shook her head. Sonic knew what she was thinking. Let her talk to Shadow herself. "You tell everyone but Shadow." Sonic couldn't argue with that. She was the one holding her hand over his mouth. He nodded.

"Good."

The sun was still down and the crickets chirped. The stars twinkled up in the sky. No one would be able to tell what happened that day. Shadow gazed at it all from within a tree. Maybe she and Rouge were right about trees being better than the ground. He couldn't help but feel eyes burn into his skin.

"I felt it. I felt what you did. I've felt nothingness. I know what that vision was that I had… I was concealed within stone like you. A voice whispering to me to bring her back… I don't know if I did that…," Shadow stated.

"Well, I wouldn't say you didn't!"

Shadow flipped around unable to believe it. She was fluttering just behind him. Her gaze was serious rather than happy even so.

"I thought-"

"That's the problem with the world. Everyone's always assuming. I don't really like it when people assume. Being a rock will rattle anyone so do you really think it would have taken two seconds?!" she demanded.

"No." He couldn't help but roll his eyes at how annoyed she was. It was, at least, normal. He hadn't known what normal was for two or three weeks. Everything was all over the place ever since Rouge heard someone leave the chaos emerald in the clearing. He was going to nickname Zaira "The Stalker" because she wouldn't stop following him.

"I suppose that I shouldn't blame anyone, though… I've got a lot of work ahead of me. My story's not over yet," Zaira said gazing off into the distance.

"None of our stories are over unless if someone shoots Sonic in the head with a dangerous weapon."

Zaira giggled. It was the first time in weeks since she was last able to. She wanted to talk about how glad she was to speak. However, she always learned that a wise man and woman holds his or her tongue when needed. If she didn't want to annoy Shadow, she wouldn't speak of such things. Zaira didn't know that Shadow wouldn't mind anymore.

Shadow, in his mind, knew that deep down, he could have stopped it all if he weren't so mean. It was surprising to see how she completely changed how he felt and the way he saw things.

"It really is a shame that I'll have to leave in the morning… I still have to try and undo everything I did. If I can't do that, I'll, at least, have to make it up to everyone I did horrible things to. That may take a while…," Zaira explained.

Shadow knew that what she was planning to do was the right thing to do. It still didn't seem right to him, though. It still seemed like there was something missing. Something was just not there. She was going and it felt like a punch to the stomach? How does that work? Continue going. That was all they could do. Live their lives the way they would and try not to look back on what they left behind.

"The sun shall soon be rising. I shall soon be leaving… I find it odd still. You hated me. Now, it's the opposite. We get along somehow. I guess… that after this, I will see you again sometime. It sounds cliche, but it is completely true!" Zaira exclaimed.

"If we are to meet again, don't expect me to run up to you with a big grin!" Shadow snapped.

"Yeah! You'll be standing in the background blushing to yourself because you don't want me to notice that you are glad to see me is what I see in the future. After this, our timelines will be shifted. I'll be doing a lot of time-travelling. For you, it may be days. For me, it may be years…," Zaira said heaving a heavy sigh with the weight of years on it.

They both looked up and saw the sky begin to light up. The sun was rising and Zaira knew that she was going to be leaving.

"I suppose that this is it. The goodbye you've been dreading," Shadow said.

"Yeah… I already made my callback to Maria for you. Let's try something new… I'm… sorry about what I did to you. There's only one way I can make up for it all. Fix everything I did. Because I'm going to do this, I only have one thing to say. Farewell, my Shadow, until we meet again," Zaira told him taking to the air.

"Until we shall meet again!" Shadow told her.

She waved and flew on towards the rising of the sun. It was a new day. It was a new beginning. A new beginning for the world.

Shadow blinked and allowed a smile to cross his face before it vanished again. He stood up and hopped from his tree. In a full sprint, he rocketed away from the place. Forever or a day? I don't care. Just may it not be forever.

While Shadow was off with his creepy love plots, Sonic was grinning to himself and nodding. Tails was with him. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do or say. He didn't even know what Sonic was nodding about.

"What are you nodding about?" Tails finally asked.

"This is where we're going to have our party of the century!" Sonic yelled.

"It is?" asked Knuckles walking over.

"No! Ha! I'm kidding! Of course, we have to celebrate our great victory right here!" Sonic said looking around.

"Actually,We're going back to our homeworld on the Blue Typhoon. You know, right now…," Tails answered to his response. Sonic's face clouded a little.

"Our party can work with just us… It won't be nearly as fun," Sonic said. Some of his enthusiasm faded away and his attitude took a beating. Tails couldn't help but be brought down with Sonic just to see his happy-go-lucky attitude damaged.

"I'm sorry Sonic… We can still have the party even if they aren't there," Tails told him.

"Nah… Forget it. The moment is gone. I'm going to go for a run. I'm not good at goodbyes," Sonic explained to Tails running off in another direction.

They all met up with them in the Blue Typhoon. Sonic had finished his run by then and had disappeared in the Blue Typhoon somewhere. The Blue Typhoon took off with everyone waving to their friends that they were leaving behind. Time to return to normal life. Hang out with friends and collect the chaos emeralds all over again. However, as long as Eggman lived, there would always be a danger for them to face. Evil to fight off will come to them. The story wasn't over. Not for any of them.

Amy figured out something that made her glad. The danger was in the past… She could tackle Sonic again! "Sonic! All deals I made are now off!" she yelled as she charged towards him. Sonic's face turned pale.

"Um, Tails, I GOTTA GO! NOW!" Sonic cried running away as fast as he could.

"Sonic, come ba-a-a-a-ack!"

"Yep. Things are definitely normal again…," Tails said to himself.

Shadow was staring out at the sea outside of the ship with Rouge beside him. Rouge knew what he was thinking about. They stood in silence. Shadow got out a chaos emerald that he had found before they had left the planet.

"Well, we know what we're going to do," Shadow stated.

"Go back to what we doing from the very beginning? Racing for the chaos emeralds?" asked Rouge.

"I thought that was obvious. Chaos… CONTROL!" he yelled holding up the chaos emerald. They vanished without a trace.

Sonic caught the sight of the chaos control just before it disappeared. He didn't respond for a moment, but then he smirked to himself. "Later, Faker!" He thought up a response from Shadow.

"Is that so?! I think that you're the Faker! This'll be a battle to die for!"

"I'll make you eat those words! Anyway, see you sometime, Shadow. Some things just never die. Your mysteries are one of those things. Although, we'll meet again."

As soon as they returned to their world, something happened. Tails detected something. It was chaos control related he said. It wasn't Shadow. It was different. Who were these people who had come here? Sonic had no clue. Then it hit him!

"Ow! Hey, what's with-?!" demanded Sonic. A rock had hit him in the back of the head.

"Uh-! Er-! Sorry! I just needed to talk with you! You're Sonic aren't you?" asked a silver hedgehog with a purple cat. They both had golden eyes and didn't look like they were from around their area.

"Yes…," Sonic answered slowly.

"Well, I'm Silver the Hedgehog. This is Blaze the Cat. We come in peace to this time. We've heard a lot about you Sonic the Hedgehog," Silver explained. Blaze nodded.

"Um…," Tails started unsure of what to say.

"Great… Now we've got silver hedgehogs who can time-travel with felines… Terrific… Here comes the sequel!"

Of course, Sonic was right because this is the end of the book. You'll have to wait for the sequel, The Story of Silver and Blaze, to find out what happens next! Or, you can just read my preview and then wait for the sequel!

 **Preview: The Story of Silver & Blaze**

Get out of here you rodent! I don't ever want to see your stupid face again!" yelled a man throwing Silver out of the building. He grunted when he fell onto the ground in a large puddle. His silver fur became soaked. The man slammed the door in front of his face.

"Rough day for poor Silver… Again…," the silver hedgehog sighed standing up. He trudged over to a tree and sat down under it. It was too early in the morning for anyone to see the fourteen-year-old begin to cry to himself from beneath the tree. Three in the morning actually. Silver didn't even know what he did to get kicked out of the orphanage. He'd been kicked out of so many. Nobody liked him. It was because of his power. His psychokinesis. His power made his life hard. He could make things float or levitate at will. Including himself. He could control it just fine. Well, maybe not in his sleep…

Silver huffed. Now wasn't the time to be feeling sorry for himself. He had to find himself a new place to call home. He may as well be a loner. There was no one who wanted him. Not even his own mother. He stood up and began to walk down the sidewalk away from his torture ex-home and on to his next. There was nothing stopping him from doing anything. Even the police now didn't do much about anything. There could be a murder and they wouldn't care The only thing they care about is if the donut shop is being robbed. Then they send everyone onto the scene. Were things really better a long time ago?

Silver found himself a park bench. It was unclaimed by anyone which was a rare sight. With the bad police and all the bad people in the world, almost every park bench would be claimed by someone. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Everyone was supposed to have a home with a heater and shelter. Food should be sold almost everywhere! Not just in one town. You could only obtain food from the capital of Mobius. Sure trucks ship food to the other cities and towns but it's useless to wait for them.

"Life is just wrong. What am I supposed to do? What is every good soul left in the world supposed to do?" asked Silver settling down on the bench. He closed his eyes but sleep never came to him. How could it?

Silver lay on the park bench until the sun came up. Nothing changed. The only thing that was at all different was the time of day. The sun was blocked out. There was no such thing as sunlight anymore. It was because there was a thick layer of clouds in the sky at all time. It was from all of the machines in the world created by the people paid to do it. When the world ran out of non-renewable resources, guess what they turned to. They started burning chemicals that made even more smoke just to run machines. People tried to convert to solar power, but the sun was blocked out because of all of the smoke in the atmosphere. Plants can't grow anymore, the government is terrible, and there was just nothing.

Silver got back up and went to the town. It was a trash dump. Everyone was sick. The only reason he wasn't was because of his power. He could force the smoke away from him with his psychokinesis. He couldn't possibly be healthier. It was a shame that his eyes had to work so perfect as well. He walked into an ancient, abandoned grocery store. He swiped a leftover power bar that was at least a year old. Why did that matter? Anything was great.

Silver nibbled on his power bar. Slowly, his energy began to return. If only things were different. Like they were two hundred years ago. There was a hero who would stop all of this from happening. He'd be able to see the sky and breathe real air. There'd be nature and chao colonies. The chao in his time were extinct. The waters became polluted which wiped them all out. The hero, Sonic, would have stopped this. Maybe-

Silver stopped. He heard something from behind him. Was it yelling? Hardly anybody lived here anymore. There was no one left here except for very few. That is, unless if they were from the orphanage! Silver bolted towards the yelling of a gang. He heard a whimper. Then a gasp! Then a yell in pain! The voice was female. He heard laughing. Silver hissed. A street gang.

As soon as Silver reached the area, he saw a yellow teenage cat of sixteen holding down a purple cat of fourteen. They were both female and the purple cat was bleeding at the mouth. She was bruised bad and the other guys in the gang were laughing and yelling things like, "Finish her off!" or "Her time to live is over!" Silver couldn't stand it. He observed them a second more.

"Well, Blazie… Do you have any last words before I finish this?" asked the gang leader who was the yellow feline. Blaze hissed.

"I don't care who you are! I'm not joining you! You will just have to kill me then!" she hissed.

The yellow cat shrugged. "Suit yourself…"

Right as she was about to attack, she realized that she couldn't! Something was controlling her hand. Then, her legs began to walk away from her foe! She didn't get what was going on!

"I-I can't move my body! WHO'S DOING THIS?!" she demanded.

"It's the freak! Silver the Rat…," hissed a gang member.

"I'm a hedgehog," Silver explained.

"Whatever! You shouldn't be here!"

"Or should I? It looks like you're hurting someone. Stop it," Silver told them with a stern tone of voice.

"You don't tell us what to do," the leader hissed violently.

"Really?" asked Silver. He took control of them all and lifted them into the air. They all flailed and yelled in protest. Silver was immune to their cries. The purple cat watched in amazement.

"How are you doing that?" she asked.

"Psychokinesis," Silver answered simply.

"Hang on a sec! Let me try something!" the cat told him. She focussed her mind and lit up her hands. Her hands were on fire! Although, they didn't burn her one bit. The flames increased slowly and she formed them into a massive ball. The gang realized what was happening.

"No! We're sorry we said those things about you! We won't touch you ever again! Please don't use your pyrokinesis!" they all cried.

She didn't stop. The fireball grew larger. She then launched it soaring at them. Silver let go when it hit them.

The gang yelled in pain and the gang leader hissed again. "You… You aren't normal! You don't belong in a world like this! You don't!"

"I'm through with them! Make them leave!" the pyrokinetic cat told Silver. He nodded in agreement.

"Bye! Hope to see you again someday!" Silver chirped to then. He picked them up again. The gang was too occupied with the flames to care. Silver lifted them up and threw them as far as his mind could throw. Away they went. The two of them sighed with relief. Silver turned to leave.

"Thank you," the cat told him.

Silver stopped. Nobody said that anymore! He thought that he was the only one who'd ever say that at all! Anybody else would just say nothing. Silver turned back around. "What?"

"Thank you," she repeated.

Silver walked back up to her. "How do you know those words?"

"My parents taught me. I thought everyone said that to show gratitude," she explained.

"You're obviously not from around here. Nobody expresses gratitude anymore. I'm the last sane person in the world. Well, there's also you," Silver replied.

"I see… It's a shame. Where are we then?" she asked.

Silver thought. Did he know? _**Really**_ know? The most he knew was that he lived on Mobius. Anything else was a blur in his brain. "We live on the planet Mobius. Anything beyond that, I have no clue."

She didn't say anything else about locations. She continued. "Well, I do thank you. I hope that it's refreshing to hear that. What you did was brave. At least, I think so. You see, I don't know my way around here. Maybe I could… come with you?"

Silver was surprised. She was so nice. It would be refreshing to actually have a friend. He knew that she could be leading him into a trap. However, he's the one with psychokinesis. He'd be fine. Besides, it was nothing he's never seen before. It would be better if he took a friend around with him. "I'd actually love to have you join me! I could use some friendly company! So, what's your name?"

"I'm Blaze the Cat."

"Nice to meet you, Blaze. My name is Silver. Allow me to fill you in on everything," Silver explained.

Silver told her about how he was kicked out of an orphanage and is the last person to really have good emotions and qualities. He told her about why there was no sun, why there were few people, why there wasn't much food, why there were so many street gangs, and everything that she'd need to know. Well, everything other than the one hero from two hundred years ago who could potentially help them.

"Where are we going to go to next then?" she asked.

"Where are we going? Somewhere that's untouched by evil and is light all the time. A place where people won't kill us and steal our stuff that's plentiful when it comes to food and-"

"Silver, I don't think that there's such a place like that left on Mobius… I used to live in a place sort of like that back in the Sol dimension. I'm a princess there and I'm also the guardian of the Sol emeralds. I hear that in this world there're the chaos emeralds. I came here to this dimension in search of someone by the name of Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. Have you heard of him?" Blaze asked.

Silver froze. She knew of Sonic the Hedgehog! She was a couple hundred years off… Maybe the Sol dimension had a separate timeline that had time flowing differently than in his dimension. That might have been why she thought she could be able to find Sonic but was two hundred years off.

"I'm afraid that in this time… It's kind of odd… He's sorta… Kinda… He's dead," Silver explained bluntly.

"Sonic can't be dead! He's the fastest thing alive!" Blaze said.

"I'm sorry! He was in his glory days two hundred years ago! Do you know anything about time-travelling? If you do, then maybe we can see him," Silver said trying not to make her mad.

Blaze sighed. "It can't be helped. If Sonic isn't alive anymore, it's no one's fault. I'll just have to stay here until I can find a way to get back home. Until then, I'll be traveling with you, Silver."

"Okay!"

"Did you say that time-travel is possible? Or did you only say that if I had the ability to we could?" asked Blaze thinking to herself.

"It's been done a few times before I'm sure. I think it requires a glowing stone or two to make it work…," Silver said thinking back.

"The chaos emeralds!" Blaze yelled suddenly.

"The what?! WHY ARE WE YELLING?!" demanded Silver.

"You have the chaos emeralds in this dimension! I know what we have to do now!" Blaze exclaimed getting excited.

"What is this one thing that we have to do?" Silver asked still confused.

"I thought that it would be obvious!" Blaze shouted now exasperated.

"What do you mean obvious?!"

"I mean that we have to go and find the chaos emeralds! Once we find the emeralds, we can cause chaos control and go back in time to find Sonic the Hedgehog! With his help, he can save the future and I can tell him what I came here originally to tell him! Don't you think it's the perfect plan? Come on!"

 **To be continued…**


End file.
